Finally Revealed
by MissMJS
Summary: The Sonic Team continues to battle Eggman. Sonic is as free as the wind. Amy has her one-sided love for Sonic. Shadow has no interest in anyone's lives, except for his "friend" Amy. Yup. Some things don't change. Adding a new member to the crew still wouldn't change anything... or would it? -(Yes, an OC story, but please give it a shot and read!) *FINISHED
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**_HI! This is my first fanfic, so don't judge too hard! _**

**_Enjoy!_**

Amara's P.O.V.

"Excuse me, miss?" A petite sounding female asks me. I groan tiredly. Who's in my room? "Are you lost?"

"Huh?" I finally open my eyes. I'm not in my room like I expected. Instead, I'm outside, laying in a meadow. But something is really wrong. It all looks animated instead of real. "Where am I?" My eyes dart around, taking in my surroundings. For being animated, it sure is a pretty meadow. It's full of flowers, and it is in what looks like to be a forest. I could probably even say it is beautiful, if I wasn't freaking out at the moment.

"You're in Amy's Meadow, and that's me!" The female exclaimed cheerfully. I finally look at her and I can't believe my eyes.

"A-Amy?!" I gasp. In front of me stood, none other than Amy Rose. "This has to be a dream! You aren't real!"

"I can assure you that this is not a dream. And of course I'm real! Why wouldn't I be?" Amy said, with a slight look of concern.

"Well, because of the fact that you only exist in comic books, TV shows, and videos games. Not to mention you ARE a talking hedgehog with human characteristics" I shake my head with disbelief and chuckle. "The dreams that my mind can come up with sometimes."

Amy narrows her eyes in annoyance. "What are you talking about? I'm not in ANY of those things! And you're the one to talk! You're a hedgehog too you know!"

"What?" I look at my skin and shriek. It was no longer a dark tan, it was covered in magenta fur! Also my nightgown, which had fit me perfectly last night, was really big on me, like I had shrunk. My hands fly to my face feel it. It's furry and I feel a muzzle. A muzzle! "What's going on?!" I start panicking. My dreams are NEVER this detailed. If anything, they are stories that are so random that they barely make sense. But this... this is really happening, I realize with horror.

"Hey! Hey, calm down! Here, let me take you to my friend's house. He lives near here, and then we can help you figure this out, okay?" She offers me her hand. I look at it for a second, then I look at her and take her hand, hoisting myself up off the ground. We start walking through the forest, Amy leading the way. After a few moments of silence, Amy asks, "So... what's your name?"

"Amara" I say. "Amara Vipsin"

"That's a nice name. Mine is Amy Rose" She says politely. I just nod, already knowing that. Not only am I still in shock from what's going on, but I've never been good for conversation. I don't know why, since both of my parents don't seem to have any issues when it comes to conversing. Remembering my parents, I let my eyes drop to the ground in sorrow. Will I ever see them again?

Sensing my distress, Amy says comfortingly, "Don't worry, we'll figure this out." I nod again. We walk for another five minutes before a house starts to take form through the trees. It's a white two-story house with red roofing. It's styled in a way that looks pretty modern, but gives off a cozy feeling. To the left of the house is a garage that is almost as big as the house itself! It has a large yard with luscious green grass.

"This is my friend's place" Amy smiles at me. "His name is Miles, but everybody calls him Tails" My eyes widen as I recognize the name. The size of the garage makes sense now. "Come on" Amy says as she starts to pull me towards the back of the house. As we draw near, I hear voices and some sizzling. We round the corner I see the Sonic crew and some friends enjoying a barbecue. I recognize all of them. Knuckles is grilling while Rouge is taking advantage of the situation and is pestering him. And she is succeeding. Tails, Sonic, and Silver are playing horseshoes. I don't think Silver is supposed to use his telekinesis because I see his hand glow blue behind his back as he throws his horseshoe. Cream, Blaze, and Vanilla are preparing the other side dishes. Vector, Espio, and Charmy are having some sort of heated discussion. Or, I should say just Vector and Charmy seem to be arguing, since Espio is just sitting there with his eyes closed. And then there's Shadow. He's on one of the lower tree branches, taking a nap it seems. All these people here, and I'm in a over-sized nightgown that now hangs lower than I'm comfortable with. Great.

"Amy! Did you get the flowers?" Asked Cream excitedly. Then she notices me. "Oh! Who's your friend Amy?"

"Sorry Cream, I wasn't able to get to flowers." Amy then gestures to me "I'll explain after we get everyone gathered." Cream looks confused, but nods anyway and goes to gather everyone. Amy then leads me over to a picnic table near the center of the backyard. I get I be the center of attention. Whoo hoo. At least no one seems to have noticed my attire yet.

After everyone has gathered around, Sonic asks, "What's goin' on Amy?"

"Well, I went to my meadow to go get Cream some flowers, so she could make her flower crowns. When I arrived, I found Amara here, fast asleep on the ground. I woke her up and asked her if she was lost. She looked around her, seeming confused and worried. When she finally looked at me, she looked at me like I had two heads or something. Then she told me that I wasn't supposed to be real and that hedgehogs weren't supposed to talk" Amy snorts. "I pointed out to her that she's a hedgehog and, after looking at her skin, she started to freak out. So I brought her here to help her figure this out."

Everyone's eyes, now full of confusion, are now on me. Even Shadow is showing some interest. I start to twiddle my thumbs. Will they believe me? What will I do if they don't?

"How about we start by introducing ourselves first?" Suggests Vanilla.

"I already know who all of you are." I say. "However, my name is Amara Vipsin."

"How do you already know who we are?" Rouge asks me.

"You're... pretty famous from where I'm from." I reply. I feel Shadow eyeing me, already suspicious of me, no doubt.

"How did you end up in the meadow Amara?" Tails asked.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember is going to sleep in my bed, in my home, in my world, and as a human.

"Human? You mean you were a human just last night?" Blaze asks shocked. I nod.

"You said 'your world'. What do you mean by that?" Silver asks.

"I do not belong in this world" I state. "Where I'm from, humans are the only talking creatures. And, in my world, all of you are known. But not because you're heroes, but because you are in comic books, TV shows, and video games. That's why I freaked out when I saw Amy, because in my world, she isn't real. None of you are." They all look at me with bewildered gazes.

"Sounds like like Chris' world, but we're fictional characters there." Sonic said.

"Hmmm..." Tails looks deep in thought. "I have no idea why all of this happened to you Amara, but I'll try to find out" he looks at me determined.

"Thank you Tails" I smile gratefully at him. This seems to relax him somewhat. Am I scary looking when I don't smile or something?

"Oh Amara! You need some new clothes! Cream and I will go get you something right now." With that said, Amy and Cream run off.

"We need to find a place for you to stay" Tails said. "I don't have anymore spare rooms. Do any of you guys?" All of them shook their heads, except for Shadow. Then they all turn their gazes to Shadow. Shadow glares back at them.

"No."

"Come on Shads! You're the only one who has a spare room!" Sonic argues. Shadow gives him a death glare. "Heh. I mean, it's not like we can let her sleep on a couch. And it'll take some time to find to find her a place." Sonic backtracks nervously.

"No." Others begin to open their mouths to try and convince him, but I speak up before they can.

"Excuse me, Shadow? I need a place to stay just for a little while until I find out if I'm stuck in this world permanently or not. I won't be too much of a bother to you, I promise." I say earnestly. He fixes his ruby eyes on me and give me a glare. I don't know if it's supposed to intimidate me or something, because I feel nothing. I keep eye contact with him. He seems to notice my indifference and seems intrigued, as intrigued as Shadow can look anyway.

Finally, he shrugs. "Fine. But I will not hesitate to throw you out if you become a nuisance." He threatens. I nod, still unfazed. An antisocial living with a socially awkward. How can we not get along?

_**How am I doing so far? Please leave a review and let me know! (If you have criticism, please put it in a polite way. I don't mind criticism, just when it's rude.)**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Hey there! I'd like to thank all the people who left reviews. I appreciate it! Seriously. The more I get, the more motivated I get to work on this. I also want to thank those of you who followed/favorited this. **

**I only own Amara and this story. Everybody else belongs to Sega. **

**Amara's P.O.V. **

"We're here! Sorry it took us so long!" Amy shouts as she and Cream run up to us. "Running all the way back to my house and picking an outfit takes time you know!" Amy teases. She then grabs my hand and drags me to Tails' house to change before anyone can even reply. As we make our way to the house, I realize that the guys are actually wearing clothes. Even though they all are wearing blue jeans and different colored T-shirts, it's still clothes! Before I know it, we're at a bathroom. "Here you are! Hopefully you like what we picked." With that said, she hands me a bundle of clothing, along with the white gloves they wear all the time for some reason, and pushes me into the bathroom. Man, she sure is pushy, isn't she?

As I change, I look around the bathroom. It has a white tile floor, a white marble sink, eggshell-white walls, and blue fabrics (the hand towels, shower curtain, ect.). I'm done getting dressed, but I'm not sure if I should look in the mirror. How different will I look? Will I hate my new look? I gather my courage and look.

I see a magenta colored hedgehog with my dark brown hair. My hair still reaches down to the middle of my back and it also has a quill-look to it, but it's not like Amy's, which is all quills. Well, there's one feature that'll remind me that I was born human. My eyes are still brown, but a lighter color now, so you can actually tell they are brown instead of black-looking. My arms are not tan like Amy and Sonic's either, instead, they are colored magenta. I'm wearing a spaghetti-strapped, skyblue dress that goes down to my knees and it has pink polka dots covering it. To be honest though, I actually don't look that bad. Cute even. I observe my face and smile. No more skin problems for me!

I step out of the bathroom and Amy is there. "Eeeeeek! You look soooo cute! I love that dress on you! Oh! And here are some shoes for you too." She hands me a pair of pink sandals and I put them on. "Oh, even better!" Amy beams. "Come on! Let's go show off your new outfit, which you can keep since I'll never be able to pull it off like you can!" Amy fake pouts, then starts dragging me back outside. Yikes, even my little brothers don't have this much energy!

**XXXXX**

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

I watch Rose and Amara disappear into Tails' house. "Do you think she is telling the truth?" I ask.

"As far-fetched as it sounds, I believe her" Tails answered. "She has a lot of details that most people wouldn't even bother taking the time to come up with, if they were making it up that is. Do you believe her Shadow?"

"I do not know, nor do I really care at the moment. Either way, I will be keeping an eye on her" I reply. "Especially since I am being forced to live with her" I glare at them.

Knuckles suddenly smirks. "Aw, come on Shadow. It won't be that bad! You've gotta admit, she is pretty cute." I give him my death glare. As his attention is focused on me, Rouge takes the opportunity and slaps him upside the head.

"Knuckles! What do you mean she's pretty cute? What about me?!"

"What about you, Batty?!" Knuckles shouts at her, rubbing his head. That starts another one of their arguments.

While they are arguing, I see Sonic go still. He is never still unless he is taken by surprise. I look to where his attention is focused, and I see Amara and Rose walking towards us. Amara looks more comfortable but also shy at the same time. Her hair is part quill and part human hair, making a surprisingly pleasant-looking combination. She is a little taller than Rose, and she has brown eyes. She's also wearing the dress that ended up being too big for Rose. I would know, since she forced me to accompany her while she shopped. The dress was made for figures that are bigger than Rose's, which, apparently, is Amara's size. To Faker, she must look really attractive. This is going to get interesting.

"Hey" Amara greets everyone, now hiding her nervousness. Faker is still paralyzed. I smirk.

"Hey Faker, what's wrong?" I ask. He snaps out of his daze and blushes.

"Uhh... Nothing! Just got lost in my own thoughts there! Heh." With the faintest blush on his muzzle, he rubs the back of his head. His signature move for when he is nervous. Rose looks at him puzzled, then she shrugs and continues to gush about the outfit she and Cream chose for Amara. As usual, I was the only one who noticed Sonic's staring. I look at Amara and notice she keeps glancing at Sonic, looking concerned. Huh, I am wrong. I am not the only one who noticed. Not only that, but she does not seem to have the same interest in him as he does her. That should give some comfort for Rose, when she finds out that is. What she sees in that blue faker, I have no idea.

"Shadow?" Rose is looking at me.

"What?" I ask, snapping out of my thoughts.

"Did you hear me?" Rose asks, looking concerned. I rarely zone out like that, and when I do, something is usually wrong.

"Sorry. No, I did not." I tell her, also letting her know nothing is wrong. Her face flashes with relief before repeating what she asked.

"I was asking if it was alright with you if we show Amara your house now? It's New Year's Day and everything is closed, otherwise I'd take her to do some shopping first." She looks at me with her pleading-jade eyes. "Please? We'll even help you get her room ready if you want."

Before I can answer, Amara speaks up. "Actually, if you guys don't mind, I'd like it if it was just me and Shadow. First: this is a lot for my mind to take in on one day and I'd like to have some time to myself. Second: it's Shadow's home, he shouldn't have to leave because of me." She says tiredly. She suddenly smirks. "Unless he decides to bug me with conversations, then he has to leave." That comment gains some snickers. I glare at them. They all back off, except for Amara. I focus my glare solely on her. Her smirk widens. I turn up the intensity, but she is now grinning!

"What are you smiling about?" I ask venomously. I am starting to get really annoyed.

"I have siblings back home. I'm used to glares. And I'm also just not scared of you, so..." She shrugs. I dash up to her and grab her throat, all within a second. Her eyes widen in surprise.

"That is a mistake" I say darkly. She meets my eyes and what I see surprises me. Her eyes are blazing with shock and anger, but not an ounce of fear.

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Of me." She growls. Still no fear! I growl and release her.

"I am something to be feared and not messed with. This is your only warning." I warn.

"Ha. Can we go now?" She asks, now annoyed.

"Why should I listen to some disrespectful brat?" I sneer.

The glare she gives me can almost rival my own. "I am only disrespectful to those who deserve it." Hmm. She isn't quite like the others. No matter. They are all the same in the end.

"Hmph. Fine." I grab her arm and prepare to chaos control.

"Hey!" Rose says to Amara. "I'll pick you around noon tomorrow so we can go shopping, alright?"

"Sounds like fun." Amara smiles at her. On closer inspection, I realize it's a fake smile. I wonder why.

"Chaos control!" A flash of red envelops us and we are now in my house. I look over at Amara, expecting her to be sick like everybody is their first time. Instead, I find her just a little dizzy. She has certainly handled that better than anybody else has, excluding me of course. "Why did you fake being happy about shopping tomorrow?" I ask.

Amara grimaces. "You really are observant, aren't you?" She sighs. "To be honest, I hate shopping. I can never find my style. And everything that I usually want is expensive, or really chinsy. But I need pretty much everything so I have no choice but to go. Otherwise I'd end up in clothes like Amy's!" She fakes being horrified. Sensing my annoyance from her 'joke', she slumps. "Kidding. Her style is fine, but it's hers, not mine. You know, you should show a little more emotion, it makes you more approachable. But then again, that's probably the opposite of what you want." She smirks. Who is this girl? She's young, but she hates shopping, and she is observant. I need to get out of here.

"Your room is down the hall there, to the right." With that said, I start to turn away.

"Thank you" she says. I turn back and look at her, cocking an eyebrow. "For letting me stay here. I really appreciate it."

"I thought you are supposed to be disrespectful to me?" I say mockingly.

She narrows her eyes. "Shadow" She warns. Then she lowers her eyes tiredly. "I don't like being rude to people. Especially when I'm this stressed" she rubs her temples. "So since I'm being nice. Maybe you could too?" She meets my eyes. She looks exhausted now. This whole time she was hiding just how tired she was, and I never could have guessed. Me! I suddenly feel some sympathy for her. It is a lot to take in. I cannot help but to slightly soften my eyes. She probably will not notice though. No one ever does.

"You can look around the house, except for in the room across from yours. That is my room." I turn away from her. "I have some errands to do and I won't be back until tomorrow night at least, so do not do anything idiotic. Chaos control!" Red light surrounds me, and I'm gone.

**XXXXX**

**Amara's P.O.V.**

Wow. His eyes actually softened. I didn't think he'd understand what I'm feeling. I realize I'm still staring at where he last was and shake my head. I look around. I'm in the living room, which is pretty big. The TV is against the wall with the front door, there's a three-seater couch across from that, a loveseat on the couch's right, and a recliner on its left. All three of the furniture are black. The carpet is a dark tan and the walls are white. There is also a black marble dining table seven feet behind the couch. It's tall enough to require the tall seats you find at bars, but these are fancier and are made of cherry oak.

On the other side of the table is another room, but open instead of walled off like regular rooms. This area contains workout machinery. It has pretty much every piece of equipment that is needed for properly working muscles. He doesn't have anything for running, which means he does that outside. I'm actually impressed. I wonder if he will mind if I use some of this stuff sometime. The lack of muscles I have is rather embarrassing.

As I walk back into the living room, I see a doorway on my right. I walk through it and find myself in the kitchen. The floor is white marble tile and the sink is black marble. The counters are black and the cabinets are also cherry oak. All the kitchen machines, like the refrigerator, are stainless silver. The walls are a light tan. At the back of the kitchen is the door to the laundry room. The laundry room is simple. It's all white: walls, floor, and both machines. The machines are on my left, a folding table in front of me, and the back door to my right. The back yard is just some grass, then the woods.

I go back to the living room and go down the hall. I open the first door on the left and see the bathroom. It is almost as big as the laundry room and it has the same floor, counter, and sink as the kitchen does. The walls are a light blue this time and there are mahogany cabinets under the sink. The fabrics are black. I walk out and continue down the hall. On the walls are some paintings, and they are gorgeous. There is one of a lake in the night, one with a waterfall, and a foggy forest at dawn. Then I get to the end of the hall, and see a huge painting. It's a foot taller than me and is three feet wide. It is a painting of a lake with a forest in the background, reflecting the stars in the sky above. It almost looks real. I also notice there seems to be no artist signature. Oh well, Shadow has really good taste in art.

I see two doors. One on my left, and one on my right. Remembering what Shadow told me, I go to the right. It appears to have been a guest room. There is already a bed set up to my left with black sheets and a dark brown comforter. Across from the bed is an empty desk with a black lamp. A three-drawer dresser is to the left of the desk. In the wall left of the bed is a closet that takes up most of the wall. There's nothing else.

It's a really nice house, and for a guy, it's also pretty clean. But to a woman, it needs a good dusting, a vacuuming, and other detaily things like that. I see it's only one in the afternoon, so I decide to clean up. Yes, I am exhausted, but only mentally. Cleaning will help me get tired physically too. Not to mention, I also hate naps. I don't know why exactly, I just do. I roll up my imaginary sleeves. Let's do this.

**I hope you enjoyed this! Reviews are welcomed! Even favorites/follows!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**I finally got some free time this weekend, so I got to work on this! Also, some FYI, most of this story will be in Amara's P.O.V. There will be Shadow P.O.V.s, just not as much as Amara's. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! **

**I own Amara and this story. Everybody else belongs to Sega. **

**Amara's P.O.V. **

Ugh. I am so sore. Shadow's house was a lot more dirtier than I thought. I didn't finish until ten last night. Vanilla and Cream stopped by and brought me dinner. Good thing too, because when it comes to cooking, I'm still a rookie. I told this to Vanilla, and she offered to give me cooking tips and share some of her recipes. Such a sweetheart. Why can everybody in my world be that nice?

It's 11 a.m. now. I should probably get out of bed and start getting ready. I really lucked out with Shadow being gone. When I decided to go to bed last night, I realized two things. One: My dress was dirty and I had no pajamas to change into. And two: I had no extra clothes for today either. I didn't want to sleep in one of Shadow's shirts. That was just too weird for me, so I had to sleep in my undergarments while my dress was being washed and dried.

I grab my dress from the dryer and put it on. There, good as new. I grab an apple on my way through the kitchen and go to the living room. Might as well learn how to work the TV.

I had finally learned the basics of working the TV remote, when I hear the doorbell ring. It's already noon, and I didn't even get to watch TV!

I open the door to reveal the expected pink hedgehog, Amy. "Hey Amara! You ready to go shopping?" Amy squeals in excitement. On the inside I grimace, but on the outside I grin and nod. She beams and leads me to her red convertible. "Oh, and by the way, you don't have to worry about money. As a thank-you-for-saving-us reward, the whole Sonic Crew was each given credit cards with unlimited amounts of money on them. So don't you worry about prices, just get what you want." Well, that's one less thing I have to worry about, I guess.

**XXXXX**

"Holy crap!" I tiredly exclaim as I plop down on Shadow's couch. The whole Sonic Crew helped me shop today, excluding Shadow if course. They even rented a moving truck to put everything in! We all met up at the mall and I had to tell them the kind of stuff I would like. Then we were paired up. Each pair was assigned specific items to get. Amy and I were a pair and we were assigned clothing and bedroom decorations. It wasn't actually too bad. Once Amy had a feel of what style I liked, she took me to every place she though I'd like. I found so many clothes, and I love all of them. I even found normal wear for me, like how Amy's red dress is her normal wear. Mine is a short-sleeved, v-neck dress that goes down to my knees. The bottom three inches of the dress is a solid color, and as it goes up, it grows darker until it reaches my waist. From there and up is completely black. My shoes are black Vans with colored shoe laces and soles. I couldn't decide on one color, so I got pretty much every bright and cute color for both dress and shoes. Part of that outfit are some bracelets like Amy's, but silver rather than gold.

Ironically, everybody got finished with their 'assignments' at the same time. As we put the last of the bought merchandise in the moving truck, it became completely full. Then they took me to a car dealership and made me get a car. I tried refusing, saying they had done enough, but they wouldn't hear of it. I ended up getting a hot pink buggy with black interior, and... wait for it... white dice to hang on my mirror! Childhood dream come true right there. I followed everybody back to Shadow's house in my new car. It was 7 p.m. when we arrived, and Shadow still wasn't back. The guys unloaded the truck, us girls put away the things, and Vanilla cooked dinner. Silver was awesome and painted my room with his telekinesis. By the time we were all done, it was nearly 10 p.m., and I had a new pink and black themed room.

Now it's a quarter after ten, everyone left less than five minutes ago, and still no Shadow. My mind begins to wander. I learned a lot about the crew today. The Sonic X series (as well as other adventures that I don't really know about but is known in my world) really did happen, but that was five years ago. Now Amy is seventeen; Sonic, Silver and Knuckles are twenty; Tails and Cream are thirteen; Shadow (body wise) and Rouge are twenty one; and Blaze, like me, is eighteen. Blaze and Silver are a new couple and visit from their time at least once a week. Amy is still madly in love with Sonic, but she doesn't stalk him as bad as she used to. Sonic still shows no signs of slowing down, and is a little nicer when rejecting Amy. Knuckles still guards the Master Emerald, and he and Rouge seem to be getting closer lately, but he won't admit that. Rouge doesn't steal anymore, and she, along with Shadow, works for G.U.N. Shadow is pretty much as emotionless as he was five years ago, but Amy managed to befriend him. Because Amy helped him realize his true promise to Maria, and Amy reminded Shadow of Maria, he opened up to her a little. He doesn't show much emotion around her, much to her disappointment, but he is always there when she needs someone and has nicknamed her 'Rose'.

I snap out of my thoughts as a red light suddenly erupts in the middle of the room, and Shadow, wearing a white T-shirt and dark blue jeans, is suddenly there. I smile and greet him. "Hey Shadow. I didn't think I'd see you tonight. You just missed the gang. They helped me shop today, which you also unfortunately missed." I tease him. I see a flash of amusement in his eyes before they become empty again.

"You cleaned." He states. I roll my eyes playfully.

"Yes. I got bored and what better way to get acquainted with a house than cleaning it?"

"Thank you." He says. I smile and nod. A few moments of awkward silence passes. He looks like he wants to ask me something, but is hesitant for some reason.

"You know, if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them." I tell him, raising an eyebrow. His eyes flash with surprise for a second.

"Will you answer truthfully?" He asks skeptically.

"I've said nothing but the truth since I've arrived here. But I guess you don't know me well enough to really know that. What if I told you that I take my promises just as seriously as you do? Would you believe me?" I ask seriously. He observes me for a few seconds, then nods. I smile. "Then how about this: I promise to answer all of your questions and answer them truthfully."

Shadow thinks about it, then shakes his head. "I cannot accept unless I promise something equal in value. It is fair that way."

"Okay... How about you promise to always be truthful and not be unnecessarily rude to me? I think that's fair."

He nods once. "Very well. I accept your promise, Amara Vipsin, and I, Shadow the Hedgehog, in return, promise to never lie to you and will not be unnecessarily rude to you." He sticks out his hand.

I smile and take his hand. "I, Amara Vipsin, accept your promise, Shadow the Hedgehog." We shake on it, sealing the promise. We lock eyes, and I get lost in his intense red ones. Instead of being intimidating, they are fascinating. Realizing I'm staring at him, I shake my head slightly to snap out of it and release his hand, which I was still holding. He blinks a couple times before taking a step back. "There's some leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry." I tell him.

"No thank you." Then he looks at me. "What is your world like?"

That was the first of many questions about my world and my life there. I told him how his world was basically a cartoon to mine, how my world seems to be changing into a darker one, slowly but surely, and what I knew about him, including Maria. He seemed tense during that subject, but after realizing I had nothing but respect for her, he relaxed a bit. I told him about my three younger siblings, my parents, my best friend, some of the issues we were still dealing with before I left, and what I did on a normal day.

"You seem like a happy person, almost like Amy. But from what you told me about your life and world, you should not be as happy as you are, unless you are faking it." He looks at me questionably. I shake my head. "So how are you this happy?" He asks.

I smile softly. "Like my mother, I am a naturally happy person. I hate having negative feelings. You ask me how I am as happy as I am? Well, I've mastered letting things go rather than dwell on them, and finding light in the darkest of things." I lock eyes with him. "If I dwelled on the past and refused to look for the light in things, then I would be full of nothing but negative feelings."

"Or just void of emotion." Shadow automatically says. His eyes suddenly grows wide, like he didn't mean for that to slip out. That's it, I realize. Shadow can't help but to dwell on the past, which keeps him from seeing the light in things. Like me, he doesn't like being full of negative emotion, so he trained himself to feel hardly any emotion at all. Empty. I suddenly understand Shadow. I also make the decision to befriend him too. Shadow needs to see the light again and let the past go. And the only thing that can stop me is if I suddenly get transported back to my world.

As I make this discovery in my head, Shadow stands from up from the recliner he was sitting on and turns to me. "I am going to bed now." He turns away before I can reply, obviously expecting me to ask him why he's void of emotion. But that's not what I plan on doing. I know he has his reasons, and I also know he'll talk about it when he wants too, which is quite a ways away, I'm suspecting.

"Hey, Shadow. Wait." I stand up and walk over to where he's stopped. He gives me a hard look. I pretend not to notice and smile at him. "I like talking to you. It was nice to talk to someone about my world and my life there. I hope you didn't mind talking to me too much, because now that I know you're capable of conversation, you better believe I expect to have more of them with you." I smile even wider. "No negotiating. Goodnight Shadow. Sleep well, and see you in the morning." With that said, I walk past a stunned Shadow and go to my room.

As I get ready for bed, I remember something Amy told me earlier. She said Shadow told her he woke up from his hibernation on January 18th. So Amy decided to make that day his birthday since he can't remember much from his past. Shadow never has a party and no one would dare to throw him one, afraid of what he would do if they did. I smile mischievously. But I'm not afraid of him. The time to throw Shadow a birthday party has finally come.

**Oooo boy, what is she going to do? And how will Shadow react? Stay tuned for more! ;)**

**Reviews are absolutely lovely, but follows/favorites work too!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Three chapters this weekend! Whoo! Look at me go! ;)**

**Anyway, here you go!**

**I own only Amara and this story. Everybody else belongs to Sega. **

**Amara's P.O.V. **

"What are we going to watch?" Asks Knuckles.

It's been thirteen days since I've first arrived to this word. I've even developed a normal routine. Every day, at some point, I: work out, visit Vanilla and Cream, help Vanilla make lunch while getting cooking tips, and try out what I learned earlier by cooking dinner for me and Shadow.

On weekdays, Shadow goes to work at G.U.N. early in the morning and doesn't get home until 7p.m. We haven't had a deep conversations since the one we had my second day here, but we still have smaller ones. Like how our day was. Baby steps, I guess.

As it turns out, Rouge and I have become great friends. We complete each other, in a way. She's the one to talk while I'm the one to listen. She flirts, I'm cautious. She's hard to like at first, I can't help but to be liked. Things like that. We're also friends because of the fact that we are the only females who don't have 'BFFs' in the group, and she doesn't take 'no' for an answer. Just ask Knuckles.

I get along pretty well with Blaze and Silver as well. Especially Silver. I can't help but to laugh at his silly jokes, so when no one wants to hear anymore of his jokes, he comes and finds me. He's like a little kid sometimes.

Amy is like a younger sister to me, but also a friend. We may be close in age, but she is either a little immature for her age, or I'm more mature for my age. Either way, I find myself sometimes wishing she'd be quiet or learn to control her temper more. I'm sure Sonic would agree with me there.

Ahh, Sonic. Every time I am around, he becomes a nervous wreck and quickly leaves. I know he likes me, but I just want to be his friend. I also don't want to get introduced to Amy's hammer.

Tails is no closer to figuring out why I am here. How I feel about that though, I'm not quite sure, and that worries me. I should be aching to go back to my family, right? So how come I feel slightly relieved every time Tails tells me he isn't closer? And why, every time I go to bed, do I slightly fear that I might suddenly be transported back in the middle if the night like before?

"No chick flicks." Sonic glares teasingly at Amy. She pouts. Tonight I invited the crew over for a movie night. I wanted to see them since lately I've only been able to see a couple of them at a time. Blaze, Silver, and Cream couldn't make it. So Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, Tails, Shadow, and I are all seated in the living room, trying to agree on a movie. Trying.

"How about horror?" Knuckles suggests.

"No way!" Amy yells at him.

"All in favor, raise your hands!" Sonic shouts out. I actually have yet to experience how horror movies are in this world, so, naturally, I raise my hand.

"Ha! Everybody says yes except you Amy! You lose!" Knuckles shouts out in victory.

"Hmph. Well, as long as I'm next to Sonic." She bats his eyelashes at him and cuddles his arm. Sonic gets really uncomfortable and tries to shake her off. He made the mistake of sitting on the loveseat, and, of course, Amy immediately called the spot next to him. Shadow, Rouge and I are on the couch, Knuckles is reclined in the recliner, and Tails is sitting in one of the kitchen seats, ignoring the offer of my seat.

As Sonic tries to pry Amy off, and Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge try to find a horror movie, I glance at Shadow. He is glaring almost literal daggers at Sonic and Amy. In his eyes I see anger and... wait... longing? I look back over to Amy and Sonic and it hits me. Does Shadow... like Amy? I look back at Shadow. Let's find out.

"You know, if you tell her how you feel, you might, I don't know, win her over?" I whisper to him. He whips his head towards me, about to deny it. But before he can even think of the first word to say, I look directly into his eyes, reminding him what he promised me. He looks back into my eyes. I see him make the decision to trust me, and I also see one of his many barriers fall. He looks away and let's out the tiniest sigh of defeat. So it's true. Shadow actually has an interest in a girl. Amy, no less. My chest gets a cramp-like feeling. Weird.

"What can she possibly see in that Faker? All he does is hurt her." Shadow asks lowly. I look back at Sonic and Amy, Sonic having given up trying to pry Amy off.

"She sees him as someone who will always be there for her. And for a woman, that is a very important quality to have in a man. You just need to convince her you can do that." I answer.

"I have been trying to do that." He says slightly frustrated. I suddenly have an idea. Ugh. The things I do for my friends sometimes.

I look at him. "Then try harder." The lights turn off, for a movie is finally put in. "You are sooo going to owe me one. Don't waste the time I buy you." I growl warningly at him. Before he can ask me what the heck I'm talking about, I turn to Amy, "Amy?" She looks at me. "Would you mind popping some popcorn? And Shadow," I turn towards him "would you mind helping her? Please?"

"No problem Amara. Come on Shadow!" With that, Amy drags Shadow away, who's glaring at me hardcore. Ha. I'm not even through with my plan yet. Unfortunatly.

I stand up and go sit next to Sonic. "Hey Sonic! Do you know what movie we're watching?" I smile at him.

"H-hey there Amara! Heh. We're watching the new Nightmare on Elm Street." Sonic says nervously. I pretend to look distraught.

"Oh. I heard that was really scary. Normally when I watch horror movies I have someone there to comfort me. Quite frankly, I don't think Shadow and Rouge are the comforting type." I sigh sadly. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Hope you enjoy the movie." I smile an obviously-fake smile at him, and stand up.

"Hey wait! Um, why don't you sit next to me? I won't mind having to comfort you." He says shyly, faintly blushing. This is too easy.

"What about Amy? I can't just take her spot." I say 'concerned'.

"Ah, don't worry. She's a nice girl. She'll understand. Come on." He pats next him, motioning for me to sit down again.

"Well, if you're sure." I say skeptically, then sit down. Man, I've gotten better at acting!

"I'm sure." He smiles at me. Just then Amy and Shadow come back into the living room. Amy walks over and hands Sonic one of the bowls of popcorn in her arms. "Oh, hey Amy! Listen, do you mind if Amara sits next to me tonight? She gets a little frightened watching horror movies and she asked me to help comfort her." He gives her one of his charming smiles. I smile sheepishly at her.

"Oh. Well. O-okay. I'll just, sit next to Shadow then." She turns and goes to sit on the middle seat of the couch, but not before I see the look of disappointment on her face. I feel a little guilty, but Shadow deserves to be happy, or at least have a chance.

"Thank you for doing this Sonic." I smile at him.

"No problem." He nods in acknowledgement. We start to watch the movie and munch on popcorn. After ten minutes, Sonic 'casually' puts his arm over my shoulders. Shadow totally owes me.

**XXXXX**

"That is going to haunt me for the rest of my life!" I exclaim to Shadow after everybody leaves.

"It wasn't even scary." He scoffs.

"Was too! And the music certainly didn't help!" I jumped more times than I could count and I actually did need some comforting from Sonic, to his joy. Apparently the horror movies here are just as scary as they are in my world. "Besides, I didn't see you complaining when you had to comfort Amy!" Shadow shoots a glare at me. I just smile smugly. My sacrifice wasn't in vain at least. Amy actually ended up enjoying herself and seemed a little closer to Shadow too.

"You did not seem to mind being in Sonic's arms." He comes back, a little too rudely actually. What's his problem?

I decide to annoy him. "So? He's a nice guy, and, now that I think about it, he is kinda cute too. Especially in that tight T-shirt of his." I'm not lying, Sonic doesn't look too bad. Like I said earlier, however, I just want to be friends. But Shadow doesn't know that. Shadow's eyes grow dark.

"So you like him?" He accuses me. This attitude isn't sitting well with me. No more messing with him. Just for tonight, that is.

I shake my head. "No. I just see him as a cute friend." I look at him. "Why do you care?"

He meets my eyes. "I was wondering what you saw in him, if you did." He answers, straight-faced.

"Oh." A few moments of awkward silence passes. I change the subject. "I don't know if Tails told you, but he has some sort of announcement to make during dinner at Roofless on the eighteenth, which is this Friday. Everybody is going. Hint, hint."

"Do you know what the announcement is about?" He asks, slight suspicious.

Crap. I can't lie. "I don't know what he plans on saying, but he seems pretty excited by it." I say carefully. I don't know EXACTLY what he's going to say, but I know the gist.

Shadow accepts my words and shrugs. "I suppose I do not have a choice on whether I go or not?"

"Of course not." I smirk. "We have to be at Roofless by 6:30. And yes, 'we'. You'll be giving me a ride. Goodnight!" I go to my room.

I think this is going to work! An actual surprise birthday party for Shadow! Of course, everybody was all for the idea of throwing a surprise party for Shadow, for their own reasons. But they all also told me that if he got mad, they'd throw me under the bus. Saw that one coming. Hopefully he doesn't end up hating it. I actually want him to enjoy himself, if not a little. Since I'm the head of this party crew, I will definitely be busy these next four days, that's for sure.

As I go over my plans for this party, I can't help but to think about Shadow and Amy's relationship, the possibilities, and this weird, unpleasant feeling in my chest when I think about it. I think I'm just jealous that Amy is closer to Shadow than I am. He would make a great friend, if he'd let anyone in. Yah. That's it. I'm just jealous that Amy is his closest friend and not me.

**Party next chapter!**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated. Follows/favorites are good too. ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

** Whoo hoo! 200 views! Anyway, here you go. I hope you enjoy!**

**I only own Amara and this story. Everybody else belongs to Sega. **

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

"You about ready yet Shadow?" Amara calls from the living room.

"Does it seem like it?" I growl back. I hear her chuckle. This is what I get for assuming. I assumed Amara would be like a normal girl and be ready late, so I didn't start to get ready until later as well. I should have known that Amara is not normal in any way. Five minutes after I started getting ready, she said she was ready. And to top things off, she's making me wear a suit. Hmph.

I finally get done and I walk out to the living room, where she is Gazing outside the window. I look at her. Her hair is put into a bun with a few strands loose to frame her face, she doesn't have a bunch of makeup on, and she is wearing a long, but fancy winter coat that covers her all the way down to her ankles, hiding her dress. She has black flats on and not heels, like I had expected. She actually looks elegant. Amara looks at me and a stunned look comes across her face. Then she catches my curious glance at her coat and mistakens it as me wondering why is she wearing such a long coat.

"Just because I'm wearing a dress doesn't mean I'm willing to catch a cold." She says defensively. I roll my eyes and walk outside, not turning to see if she is following me. I hear quick footsteps behind me. "I look okay with it on though, right?" She asks self-consciously.

I turn around and look at her straight-faced. "You look elegant." Her face brightens so much, I think she might hug me.

Instead, she says, "Thank you, Shadow." Her voice is full of joy and appreciation. It is the first time I have ever heard my name said that way. It is... different. I turn without saying anything, realizing I was looking at her for too long. I go over to the garage and open it, revealing my motorcycle.

Smirking, I turn back towards her and tell Amara, "You said I had to give you a ride, so no complaining."

"Are you kidding?! It looks awesome!" She shouts out gleefully, with admiration written all over her face. This takes me off guard.

"Really? You are not worried about your hair being messed up? About your safety?"

"Hopefully it doesn't mess up my hair too bad. If it does, it better be worth it." She glares pointedly at me, then her face softens. "As for my safety; I trust you. So there's no need to worry." She says confidently. She... trusts me? I look at her harder, trying to find any sign of a lie. She looks right back at me, unflinching. Unable to find anything and frustrated, I turn away and get on my motorcycle. Because of her coat, she has to sit sideways on the motorcycle. She wraps her arms around my torso.

"Hold on tight." I tell her. I feel her nod. I start the motorcycle and take off. For her sake I do not go very fast. But a sharp corner comes up and I cannot help myself as I whip around it. I hear her giggle. This is the first time I have heard that.

"You can go faster you know." She says, amused. In response, I speed up. After a little while, we speed up to Roofless' parking lot.

Roofless is a fancy restaurant located just outside of town. This is so you can see the stars through their roofless building, hence the name. The owners were not very creative with the name, obviously.

Amara and I get off the motorcycle and head towards the entrance. "We're Amara and Shadow." Amara tells the doorman.

He checks his list. "Ah, yes." He signals over a waiter. "Okay, follow Jim please." Jim leads us through the restaurant. It is fairly busy tonight, but it is not nearly as loud as other restaurants. Jim leads us to a private room in the back, where our table is. Everybody is already here: Faker, Rose, Tails, Rouge, Knuckles, Cream, Vanilla, Blaze, and Silver. They are all dressed up as well, and are seated at a big round table, with two empty seats in between Rouge and Rose.

"May I take your coat for you miss?" Jim asks Amara.

"Yes please." She shrugs off her coat and hands it to Jim, finally revealing her dress. She is wearing a silk, sapphire blue, knee length dress that ties around her neck, leaving her back open. Around her waist is a black ribbon that ties into a bow in the back. And I thought she looked nice in her coat. Before I can register what I am doing, I pull out the chair next to Rouge for her, wait for her to sit, and push her in. The others were stunned first by her beauty, now by my actions.

I take the seat next to Rose and, before anyone can even voice their thoughts, I ask, "What is this announcement you need to make Tails?"

The young fox blushes and stands, growing nervous. "Well, I-I just w-want to be the first one t-to say, happy birthday Shadow." He says and quickly sits down. "Surprise!" He chuckles nervously. Everyone else is waits for my reaction. I narrow my eyes dangerously at him. His eyes widen and they flick to Amara.

"Shadow, this was my idea." Amara states calmly. I snap my glare towards her. She takes a drink from her glass of water.

"What makes you think it was a good one?" I growl lowly.

She locks eyes with me. "Ultimate lifeform or not, everybody deserves some sort of birthday celebration. I could still let the whole world know if you'd prefer" she says slyly. I cross my arms and look away, refusing to look at any of them. This is completely pointless. I feel a hand on my arm. "Shadow, I actually want you to enjoy yourself, if not a little bit. If I really wanted to embarrass you, don't you think I could've done a better job at that?" I glare at her. "Please? We'll just act like it's just a normal get-together. And if anyone acts otherwise, you or I can take care of it." She then glares warningly at the others.

"Me too." Rose says. She looks at me pleadingly. "Can you let us do this for you? Just this once?"

"Hmph. I am not going to be nice." I say warningly.

"As long as you don't cross any lines," Amara says "I am fine with that."

"We are too, right guys?" Amy asks everybody else. They all nod their heads. Some, like Faker, nod a little nervously. They remember how blunt I can be.

"Fine." I spit out. I did warn them. Another waiter arrives and takes our orders. For a while, everybody talks to one another, except for me and Amara. I just look around, adding rude comments when I see an opening in their conversations. Amara listens to their conversations, but she doesn't say anything. I am not the only one who notices Amara's silence.

"You know, you don't say very much Amara." Knuckles tells her. "Sure, I've heard you speak before, but you never talk for long. Shadow might've rubbed off on you, because you speak almost as much as him."

"Ha." I say. "She wishes. You should hear her back home. She never shuts up."

She glares at me. "That's because you're obviously not going to talk."

"What was it that you were telling me the other night? Something like Sonic being cute?" I ask casually. Shock flashes across her face before she composes herself.

"Oh yeah." She looks at Sonic, who is stunned. "For a friend, I will admit that you're pretty cute, Sonic." She winks at him. He blushes while Amy glares daggers at Amara. "And in case you didn't hear Amy, I said 'for a friend', meaning we are only friends." Amara smiles reassuringly to Amy. Amy brightens up, but is still slightly suspicious, while Sonic's ears slightly droop in disappointment.

She didn't even try to deny it! Getting back at her might be more of a challenge than I thought.

While everybody else teases Sonic for being 'cute', Amara leans towards me as whispers, "Hey Shadow." I look at her. "I'm going to let that one slide, but don't forget I know a couple things about you too." She threatens with a smile, and she sits back up. Hmph. Like I can be threatened.

"Hey! Our food is here!" Sonic cries out, desperately trying to change the subject. Sure enough, our food is set in front of us and everyone digs in. The conversing continues, and this time Amara makes more of an effort join in. Me, I just watch the stars, giving up on being extra rude. Of all the restaurants, at least they picked one that I don't mind too much.

"You know, the stars here are the same as they are back in my world." Amara says to me. I look from the stars to her. She is gazing at the stars adoringly, and a little homesick. "I've always loved looking at the stars. Especially when me and my family would go camping." She meets my gaze. Her eyes are not completely full of sadness like I expected, instead, they are full of guilt.

I take a breath, about to ask her why, but a waitress comes up, holding a bag. "Here you go miss." She hands the bag to Amara.

"Thank you." Amara says as she takes the bag. She receives a lot of curious glances. "I know you all are wondering what is in this, and I'll show you, but let me just say: Thank you all for the kindness you have shown me. I can't imagine how much harder it would be if Amy hadn't found me that day." She stands and starts to open the bag. "I know this isn't much, but I wanted to make something useful and this is something I noticed all of you could use." She pulls out a soft, fuzzy, and white scarf. She hands it to Rouge, and starts going clockwise around the table, giving everyone a scarf. As she hands them out, she says, "I knitted all of these, and they'll keep you nice and warm. They also match your fur, so it can go with any of your outfits." Then she comes to me. She pulls out a black, tinted red, scarf that looks very prickly. She leans towards me while handing me the scarf. "This looks uninviting, but once you actually touch it, you'll find it's one of the softest scarves." She puts the scarf in my hands. I feel it and discover it is very soft. I look at her, wondering if she meant for her words to have a double meaning, but she is too preoccupied by the compliments and thank yous.

"Oh, thank you Amara! I love it soo much!" Amy squeals with joy.

"Yeah. This actually looks suitable for a guy to wear." Knuckles says, obviously impressed.

Amara beams with pride. "No problem. I had plenty of time on my hands, so I made these."

While this is going on, I look back up at the stars and get lost in my thoughts. Why is Amara so different? Sure, she is from another world, but she was still a human. Humans are all alike. Yet, I have never met anyone like her. Not once has she mentioned Amy to me since my 'confession'. She has a good sense of what is fair. She is polite to everyone she meets, she does not lose control of her emotions, but she still shows more than I ever could, and she is almost as observant as me. She also seems to see, and respect, my boundaries. Why? What does she have to gain? Obviously I am not going to be her best friend, or anything close for that matter. Why?

"Hey Shadow." I snap out of my thoughts and look over at Amara, who has her coat back on. "Are you ready to go?" I stand up and find the crew already gone. I nod. At least it is finally over. We start walking back to my motorcycle. "Oh, and do you mind if we stop at Rouge's Club? She says she has some clothing for me there." She smiles sheepishly at me.

I roll my eyes. "Fine." It is a nice night for riding anyway. We climb on the motorcycle and zoom off to Rouge's Club. Apparently Rouge has just as much talent for naming businesses as the Roofless owners do. We arrive after twenty minutes of riding. It doesn't look as busy as it usually does. It must be a private party.

"Would you mind coming in with me?" Amara asks me, looking nervous. "Clubs make me kinda nervous." I let out a heavy sigh and nod. She looks at me appreciatively and follows me to the entrance. We meet the bouncer and he lets us pass, knowing full well who I am. We walk inside and Rouge is there to greet us.

"Ah! Good! You got him in here, Amara!" Rouge exclaims, wearing a different outfit than the one she wore less than half an hour ago.

I turn towards Amara. "What is she talking about?" I demand.

Amara smirks. "You didn't think your celebration was just that boring dinner, did you? That was so Cream and Tails could be apart of it. This is the second part of the celebration. Now, you will stay until at least midnight, have fun, and don't get too drunk, ect. Phase two begins..." She loosens her bun and shakes her head, her hair falling down in curly, dark brown waves."...now."

**Oooooo, what's going to happen during phase two?**

**I don't know why, but I just LOVE getting reviews! They just make my day. Follows/Favorites are pretty good too. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**I think I did pretty well on this chapter. I certainly hope so anyway. I hope you enjoy!**

**I own Amara and other characters in this story. Spencer Daniel Ricardo and Noah Marcus Thompson belongs to Christian Ape99. The Sonic crew belongs to Sega**.

**Amara's P.O.V**.

"Uh oh, that guy just dropped his girlfriend! He's going to get it." Rouge snickers. It's been an hour since I've left Shadow to enjoy phase two. I'm sitting with Blaze, Rouge, and Amy. Because Amy is under the legal drinking age, which is eighteen here, she isn't drinking. I personally hate the taste and won't ever touch it. Rouge and Blaze are only having a couple, and that's so they can take care of the guys afterwards. Knuckles, Sonic, and Silver are starting to get really drunk right now, and from the looks of things, they aren't going to slow down anytime soon.

"Uh, Rouge? I think Knuckles is flirting." Amy points at Knuckles. Sure enough, Knuckles is smiling and talking with a pretty yellow cat at the bar.

Rouge narrows her eyes dangerously. "Be right back." She gets up from her chair and cuts straight through the dancing crowd. I shake my head and chuckle. I know exactly what's going to happen: Rouge will get Knuckles to storm off and she'll threaten the girl. Good ol' Rouge. I scan the crowd, looking for nothing in particular, until I see Shadow observing the crowd in the far corner, alone.

"I'm going to go see if Shadow's doing okay." I announce just as Rouge is sitting back down, looking smug.

"He's fine. He likes being alone." Rouge dismisses.

"Okay... I'm still going to check." I stand up.

"Careful Amara. Shadow is a little... moody when he drinks." Amy warns me.

"Okay." I nod and head towards Shadow's table. I wonder how moody he is. I arrive to his two-seater table and notice there are four empty bottles in front of him. His jacket is hanging on the back of his chair, and his tie is loosened. "Hey Shadow."

"What do you want now?" He asks without looking at me. Pretty moody.

"Are you still okay being here? If you still want to leave, we can."

"It is only 11 p.m. What happened to staying until midnight?" He huffs.

"I also said I wanted you to enjoy yourself. So. Are you?"

He finally looks at me. "I am fine." Then he looks away.

I decide to test how moody he is. I smirk. "Having a birthday isn't so bad, is it?"

He glares hard core at me. "It is not like I had a choice, is it?" He spits out at me. Very moody. He sees my expression, closes his eyes, and rubs his temples. "Look. Most people, when they drink, become fools and humiliate themselves. I do not. I am-"

"Rude, insulting, and short tempered." I finish. He glares at me. I smile softly at him. "You're not the first person I've met who acts like this you know. I think I'll stick around for awhile make sure people don't bother you."

He looks surprised. "Why?"

"A lot of these people don't deserve to get their heads bitten off." I lightly tease. "And the guys are keeping the girls' hands full..." I point to our friends. Knuckles looks ready to fight a bull and Rouge is trying to defuse it. Silver is getting really clumsy so Blaze is helping him sit and stay. Sonic... is avoiding Amy. I don't want to know why. "leaving me alone." I sigh dramatically.

"Hmph. You would be better off alone."

"I've dealt with your kind of mood before." I look at him. "You don't get drunk very often, do you?" I ask, unable to keep all the uneasiness out of my voice. He looks at me curiously.

"No. Just once or twice a year. Why?"

I look away. "The more you drink, the more your inner monster comes out."

"What do you know about inner monsters?" He sneers.

"Enough." I vaguely state.

"Like what?" He asks. I shake my head. "You promised to answer all my questions, did you not?" He growls.

I lock my eyes with his. "Please don't make me answer." My voice cracks in the beginning. He looks shocked to hear me vulnerable like that. After a few moments, his gaze softens.

"Okay." He gently says. I give him a small smile and observe my surroundings again. We sit in silence, watching people. It's not an uncomfortable silence though. Somehow, knowing my life hasn't been sunshine and rainbows either, has made Shadow more comfortable around me. I welcome it. "Rouge seems to have gained a little more sense. It's not too crowded in here and the music is actually decent." I can't believe it. He started a conversation.

I smile sheepishly. "Actually, I told Rouge not to allow more than two hundred people in here and I picked the music. What she wanted would've driven me insane." He looks at me surprised.

"I would not have thought of you as a rock person."

I shrug. "No one does. But it's my favorite type anyway."

"Hmm. Well... thank you. For everything. You were right, it is not so bad." He smirks. He is just full of surprises now! "Earlier," his voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "when you were looking at the stars, you looked guilty. Why?"

I look at him, then down at my hands. "I love my family. I really do. But now, it seems I love being here more. I shouldn't though. My family needs me, and it will hurt them if I stay." Tears start to prickle my eyes. No. I will not cry.

"Even if it makes you unhappy?"

"My family has gone through enough hardships. They don't need my disappearance on top of it. So... yes." I say. He searches my face, trying to see if I'm serious. He looks away.

"Your family is lucky to have you then." My heart swells hearing him say that. Unfortunately, every good moment must end, for Sonic comes up to our little table, drunk.

"Hey Amara! Sup Shads?"

"Go away." Shadow growls.

"Hey now! Just want to ask Amara something." He gives me a flirty smile. "Would you like to dance with me?"

"Sorry Sonic, but I can't dance." I'm not lying too.

"What?! Every girl knows how! Eh, oh well. I'll help ya! Come on!" He starts to reach for my hands, but I pull them back.

"Still no, Sonic. You could ask Amy." I suggest.

"No way! She'd never leave me alone then!" He pouts. "Come on Amara. Is it me?" He shakes his head. "Ha. Never mind. I'm awesome."

"I disagree Faker." Shadow growls.

Sonic smirks. "Oh yah? I bet you can't get Amara to dance with you. If she won't dance with me, she definitely won't dance with you!"

"Fine." Shadow stands up looks at me.

"I really can't dance." I tell him.

"Do not worry. I can guide you. I promise you will not look foolish." He says sincerely and sticks out his hand. I hesitate, then I put my hand in his, trusting him. He smirks at Sonic.

"What?!" Sonic shouts out. "How come you said yes to him?!"

"He promised I wouldn't look foolish." I shrug, feeling a little guilty. Shadow pulls me out on the dance floor, just in time for a slow song. Oh great. Instead of the regular slow dance, with his hands on my waist and my arms around his neck, he puts his left hand on my waist and takes my right hand with his. I start to panic. He sees my worry.

"I promised." He says comfortingly. He slightly lifts me and sets my feet on his. He starts to dance, my feet moving with his. He is a graceful dancer, and I can't help but to give him a wide smile.

"I'm dancing! Well, sort of." I chuckle. Shadow smirks, but this smirk is the closest one to a smile that I've ever seen him wear. It's weird, if I were in this situation with anyone else, it would be so awkward. But with Shadow, I feel comfortable and safe. Without realizing what I'm doing, I rest my head on his chest. He stiffens for a second, then slowly relaxes. We dance like that for the rest of the song. Just as the song ends, Shadow stiffens again. I step out of his arms to see what's wrong and see him looking at something. I turn and see Amy dragging Sonic onto the dance floor. She wraps her arms around his neck and Sonic hesitantly puts his hands on her waist. I look back at Shadow, my chest cramping again.

"You could ask Amy to dance. You're a wonderful dancer and I bet it would impress her." I suggest, but strangely, I'm reluctant to help him with Amy. I ignore both the cramp and my selfish thoughts. He suddenly whips his hard, cold gaze to me.

"Has it occurred to you that maybe I do not want to win Amy over?" He asks in a hard voice.

"I-"

"No. No you have not. You just assumed you knew best. Here is a reality check: You. Know. Nothing. I hate it when girls like you decide to play matchmaker. How about you just mind your own business!" He growls at me. I manage to keep my cool.

"I just wanted to help you. You're my friend and I want you to be happy."

He scoffs. "Spoken like the little idiotic girl you are, thinking we are friends. I do not need anyone's help or friendship. Especially yours." The last part he says venomously. Ouch. His words stab me deeply, but I keep my pain hidden. I will not give him that satisfaction. Anger surges in me now. I give him the hardest glare I have ever given.

"Are you done?" I ask in an equally hard voice. He narrows his eyes. "If I wanted to play matchmaker, I would've chose to fix up Amy and Sonic. Now those two make a cute couple. But because I care about your well-being, I decided to help you. And you know what?" My control is starting to slip, and I feel my eyes beginning to water. "I would rather be an idiotic girl any day than be a bitter, hurtful jerk." I turn my back on him and leave. I don't remember when they started, but tears of frustration and sorrow pour down my face. I was strong enough not to let him see at least.

Blinded by my tears and my hands drying them, I run into someone. "Oof" I start to fall back, but a pair of strong hands grab my shoulders and steady me.

"Careful." A male voice says. I look up and meet the eyes of a panda bear, and right next to him is a big gorilla. "Are you okay miss?" The panda asks, both guys looking concerned.

"Just show us where the douche is and we'll take care of him." The gorilla growls and cracks his knuckles. I give a weak laugh.

"It's okay. Really, I took care of him." I smile at them, starting to feel better.

"I'm not going to kill him, I'll just beat him up for making a pretty little thing like you cry." The gorilla grins. "I'm Spencer. Spencer Daniel Ricardo." He shakes my hand.

"And I'm Noah Marcus Thompson." I shake the panda's hand.

"A pleasure meeting you both. I'm Amara Vipsin."

"Are you okay Amara? Spencer wasn't kidding when he said we'd take care of the guy." Noah says with concern and a hint of darkness.

"Really, I'm okay. He gets mean when he drinks, so I told him off. Whether or not you believe me, he is the kind that listens to people, but he doesn't let them know that. Thank you for your concern though. It actually makes me feel better." I smile gratefully at them.

"Hey, you want to hang out with us and our buddies for a while? We'll cheer you right up." Spencer says cockily.

"Sure!" I grin, happy to make more friends.

"Sweet!" Noah whoops. I laugh, already enjoying myself. Spencer and Noah lead me to their table where the rest of their friends are. They introduce me to a aqua blue hedgehog named Jack, a leopard named Nick, and a hawk named Gabe. They start to introduce me to another friend, but I already know him.

"Hey Victor!" I greet.

"What up Amara?" Victor smiles and high-fives me.

"You already know each other?" Nick asks.

"Yah! She's the new girl that lives with Shadow that I told you about." Victor answers. Everybody, except Victor, looks at me wide-eyed.

"You. Live. With. Shadow?" Gabe asks stunned. I nod my head, not sure what's going on. "How can you live with that guy! He's scary! And mean!"

"Wait, is he the jerk that made you cry?" Spencer asks me, his eyes narrowed. I reluctantly nod.

"He made her cry? That dude needs beating." Jack growls.

Before things can get out of hand, I step in. "Can you guys please drop it? I can handle him, but right now I just want to forget about it and enjoy the rest of the night. Please?" The guys look at each other, then back at me, and they silently drop it.

A couple moments of silence pass before Victor turns to Jack and says, "Continuing our earlier conversation: I still think the drums are the most important part in a band."

"No they are not! They're about as important as flutes. Unlike the flutes, unfortunately, we hear the drums!" Jack argues with him.

"Hey now, the flute almost always has the melody, but the rest of the band thinks they're too important to play soft!" I interfer. They look at me.

"You play the flute?" Jack asks me. I smirk and nod.

"I also just learned to play the alto saxophone and started to learn guitar." I nonchalantly say.

"Hey! That's great! How would you like to join Station Square's orchestra band? We are in need of some flutists." Noah looks at me with puppydog eyes.

"That sounds awesome!" And just like that, I was a new member in their group. What can I say? Band geeks stick together. We spend the rest of the night teasing one another, sharing stories, and me getting to know them and vice versa. They even told me I am really cool for a girl, which is saying something, according to Spencer.

As I laugh at Jack getting soaked by Nick 'accidentally' spilling his drink on him, Amy, towing a drunk, stumbling Sonic, comes up to our table. "Hey Amara. Shadow told me to give you a ride home when I leave. He was actually pretty rude about it too." She huffs annoyed. "Anyway, Sonic needs to get to bed and I'm ready to go." What time is it? I check the time and see it's already one in the morning. I sigh.

"I guess it's late enough to go home." I stand up. "I am so glad I met you guys and I can't wait for band practice!"

"It's always nice making a new friend, especially an awesome one!" Noah winks at me. Then he finds a piece of paper and writes something on it. "Here's my number. Feel free to call anytime." Suddenly, all the guys are writing down and giving me their numbers.

"I don't know my new number yet, but I'll text you guys later. See you later!" I smile and wave goodbye. They wave back, Spencer pretending to cry. That dork.

Amy, Sonic, and I leave the club and head towards Amy's red car. "What did you mean by 'band practice'?" Amy asks me.

"Oh, I told them I played the flute and they need some more flutes in their orchestra, so I told them I'd be happy to join." I smile.

"Pfffft. Electric guitar is sooo much better." Sonic slurs.

"Okay Sonic." Amy rolls her eyes. "That's great Amara. I'm glad you're adjusting well here." She addresses me. What if I'm adjusting too well? I smile at her, hiding that thought in my head.

"Amara, Amara. I'm a pretty hedgehog too you know." Sonic slurs, seconds from crashing. I laugh so hard, I have tears rolling down my face. For the rest of the drive, there isn't much conversation, mostly due to the fact that Amy is exhausted, Sonic is out, and I'm buzzing with thoughts, now that I'm heading back to Shadow's house. What should I do? Should I forgive him ? Should I call it quits and give up being Shadow's friend? I don't know.

Before I know it, I'm back at the house. "Thank you Amy. See you later." I climb out of the passenger seat.

"Bye Amara." She smiles and drives off, just as Sonic begins to snore loudly. I shake my head and go inside the house. Looks like Shadow is either asleep or not here. Fine with me, now I can deal with him tomorrow. Lovely.

**Yeah! Band geeks for life! **

**Sorry, I had to share that. ;) I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Don't be afraid to review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**I would like to thank Christian Ape99 for reviewing every chapter so far! I realized I never thanked you last chapter, so I'm thanking you now! :)**

**I own Amara and this story. I also own the name 'Shadykins'! The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

_'I'd rather be an idiotic girl any day than be a bitter, hurtful jerk_.' As I sleep, my thoughts continually repeat her words. Instead of dreaming, like normal people do, my body rests while my mind stays alert, giving me time to go over all my thoughts. Like how serious Amara was when she said that to me. I knew I made her mad, I could see it, but she did not have a normal reaction. When people get angry, they lose their common sense and say things they later on regret. You can just see it: their jaw or fists clenched, eyes blazing with anger, their rigid frame, and their minds conjuring up the regrettable words. But Amara did not have anger written all over her face, she did not have the stance of an angry person, and she did not let her anger cloud her mind. That is probably what bothers me the most: her mind was perfectly clear. She knew exactly what she was saying, and she will not regret it.

Why should it bother me? I do not care what she thinks, nor do I care that I have hurt her. The image of a tear escaping her eye as she turns from me flashes in my mind. Or do I? I replay our argument in my head, this time viewing it as an outsider: Her innocent statement, my rude overreaction, the sincerity and determination in her eyes as she claims we are friends, my harsh words, a quick flash of hurt that I had failed to catch earlier, and her guiltless words. I release a sigh. I was the one at fault this time. She did not deserve my attack. That also means I have to apologize. I hate having to apologize, but it is necessary. However, if I have learned anything from dealing with Amy, a simple 'sorry' will not suffice. I will have to repay her somehow.

Deciding my body is rested enough, I wake myself up and see it is 8 am. How can I repay Amara? As I ponder this, I throw on my usual white t-shirt and dark blue jeans. An idea suddenly hits me, and I prepare for chaos control. Time to fix this.

**XXXXX**

**Amara's P.O.V. **

I wake up and see it is a little after 8 am. I slept poorly last night, my worries of how I should deal with Shadow prevented me from enjoying a peaceful night's rest. So far, I've decided I don't dislike Shadow, even after last night. My dilemma, however, is whether or not I should do what he wishes and be uninvolved in his life or continue my mission to befriend him. I guess I'll see how he acts and I'll go from there.

I get dressed in my outfit, going lime green today, and decide to make eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes for the both of us. I'd like to avoid another disastrous confrontation, if I can help it. Just as I get done setting the table, a red light flashes from behind me. I turn and find Shadow standing there, holding a rectangular box. I meet his eyes and unsurprisingly find no emotion in them. Fine, two can play at that game. I may not dislike him, but that doesn't mean I've completely forgiven him for last night either.

I ignore the box he's holding and say in a monotone voice, "I made breakfast if you want some." I turn back around and sit at the table. I hear him set the box down and walk over to the table. He sits across from me.

"Thank you." He says to me. I nod, not meeting his eyes. We eat in silence. The whole time I don't look at him once, but I feel his eyes on me a couple times. We finish almost at the same time, so I take our dishes and set them in the sink.

"Amara." I turn and face Shadow. "We need to talk." I cock an eyebrow. He looks away and sighs. Then he looks at me straight in the eyes. "Last night, I was in a different state of mind. I did not give you a fair chance to defend yourself. I had no reason to attack you like that, and for that, I apologize." So... he's apologizing just for not letting me defend myself?

"What about what you said? Did you mean all of it?" I ask him, still monotone. If he says yes, then I'll call it quits and leave him alone. He looks at me for a few moments, thinking, I'm guessing.

Finally he says, "At the time I did. But I look back at it and see I do not now. I also apologize for those unnecessary words. I understand if you wish to still be mad at me." I look away, taking my turn for thinking. I can hold grudges against people I don't like, but not against the people I like. He also did say sorry. I look back at him and smile, no longer emotionless.

"I accept your apology, and I forgive you." He looks at me surprised.

"Just like that? I do not have to repay you in some way?"

I chuckle and shake my head. "No. I still trust your word and if you say you're sorry, then that is enough for me."

"Hmm. That would have been nice to know earlier." He grumbles lowly, but I hear it. I'm about to ask him about it, when it clicks. The box.

"Hey Shadow, what's with the box?" I ask innocently. He looks at me, looking slightly uncomfortable. Slightly.

"Well. I thought I would have to do something to repay you so I got you something."

"Aww! Isn't that sweet!" I tease him. He shoots me a glare. Still chuckling, I ask, "Can I have it?" He shrugs and nods his head toward the box, making me go get it. Such a gentleman. I sit on the couch next to where it is and start to open it. Once I open the box flaps, I see a flute case and a book of flute music. My eyes widen in shock and I grab the flute case. I open the case and stare in awe. Inside is a brand-new, professional flute. Back in my world, I had a hand-me-down student flute.

"H-how did you know?" I ask, still staring in awe at the instrument.

"When you hung out with the panda and gorilla last night, I came over to make sure you were safe. I just happened to hear about you playing the flute." He says tense, expecting me to be upset he eavesdropped on me last night. Instead I smile and do something I rarely do: I squeal joyfully and give him a big hug.

"Thank you so much! I love it I love it I love it!" I squeal into his chest. He stays tense for a couple seconds, then relaxes and puts a hand on my back.

"You are welcome." He says, almost sounding amused. I end my hug before it can get too awkward. An idea suddenly pops into my mind, and I smile mischievously.

"You know, all of the guys have at least one nickname, except for you. I'm personally not to fond of Shads. It doesn't have a ring to it." If looks could kill, the glare Shadow is giving me now could certainly do it. But looks can't kill, so I continue on. "Hmm... what would be a good one?" I start to pace in front of him. "Maybe fluffy? You have very fluffy fur." Shadow opens his mouth to most likely growl at me, but I interrupt him. "Naw. Too common. Oh! I know!" I stop in front of him and grin as wide as I can. "I'll call you Shadykins!"

"Absolutely not." He growls menacingly.

Unfazed, I smirk evilly at him. "Here's how this is going to go. You have two options: one, you let me call you that without saying anything about it, and I'll make sure I am the only girl to call you that. You can deal with the guys. I also won't call you that in public, just around the crew or when it's just us. Option two is I call you that every single chance I get, public or not. Your choice."

Shadow growls and says threateningly, "You wouldn't dare." I cock an eyebrow.

"Would you bet on that?"

Seeing I'm completely serious, he growls frustratedly and rubs his temples with his hands. Finally he spits out, "Fine. I will not say anything about it, but you better believe I will glare at you every single time!"

"Oh I know. Well, Shadykins, I'm going to go clean up the dishes." I giggle and go into the kitchen. I hear him growl. Oh this is going to be so much fun!

"I have some errands to do, I'll be back for dinner." He says, still full of frustration and chaos controls away. I chuckle. Since I have nothing planned for today, I might as well clean the house again. I can start to see some dust accumulating.

**XXXXX**

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

I did not have errands to do, I just needed to get away. I am on my favorite branch in my resting tree and am mulling over my thoughts. Everything about that girl is confusing and frustrating to me. When I try to predict Amara's actions, I am almost always wrong. And just when I think she might not be so bad, she goes and give a ridiculous nickname!

When you are deep in thought, time flies by. As my mInd finally cools off and rejoins the world, I realize it is already starting to get dark. I might as well head back now. I chaos control into my living room, and what I see causes me to raise an eyebrow.

Amara is jamming out to a rock station on the radio. She is dancing, singing, and head banging, all while making dinner. She was not kidding about not being able to dance, she is moving randomly to the song. She is so focused on dinner and the song, she does not seem to notice my entrance. Amara twirls while holding a pot of water and spills some on the floor. Not noticing the mess she made, she sets the pot on the stove and and walks right in the puddle. She crashes onto the kitchen floor, landing on her back. She is dazed for a couple of seconds before she starts laughing at herself. I decide to make my presence known.

I walk over to her and smirk down at her. "Clumsy girl." She looks up at me surprised, then she grins.

"Oh, hey Shadykins!" I flare with annoyance. "Wasn't that awesome?" She starts laughing at herself again. Still smirking, I shake my head and start to walk away. I take a step and my foot suddenly slips from under me, throwing me off balance, and I slam onto my back, right next to Amara. I forgot to watch for the water, and now Amara is laughing her head off. I turn my head to glare at her, but she is too gone. Her eyes are shut tight while she loudly laughs. Her laughs start to progress into different types of laughter, she is gasping for air, and her face starts to turn red.

She opens her tear-filled eyes and, through her laughter, she utters, "Uh oh." She shuts her eyes again and gives into her laughing fit. She has so many laughs: a belly, a wheezy, a giggly, and so many more. Her face is free of all negativity, just full of joy. My falling was not this humorous, was it? I look at it from her point of view. I, the Ultimate Lifeform, have just slipped and fell onto the floor. I give a small smile and start to chuckle, something I have not done since Maria.

Realizing what I am doing, I look over at Amara and she meets my eyes. Instead of gaping and being shocked at my laughter, her face fills with even more joy and her laughter becomes even stronger. Hearing her laugh somehow drives away some of the ever-present darkness inside of me and I suddenly find myself laughing more as well. I cannot stop it! What is going on? Not too long passes before I am laughing just as hard as Amara and even gasping for some air. Why can I not stop?

After about ten minutes of this, our laughter finally dies out and we lay on the ground, replenishing our air supply. Amara is the first to recover and sits up, turning towards me. "Who's clumsy again?" She chuckles and immediately stops, wincing from her sore abdomen. "I haven't had that bad of a laugh attack since... for about half a year now." She stands and tends to the forgotten dinner, taking care of that blasted spill first. I sit up.

"What just happened?" I am so confused. Is this 'laugh attack' dangerous? I have never heard nor experienced this before.

"A laugh attack. It starts out as simple laughter, then you suddenly find yourself unable to stop laughing. It's actually a pretty good stress reliever. The more stressed out you are, the longer they last, which explains why you laughed for so long. They also hurt too." She fake pouts and pokes her abdomen. I do not reply. Why would I need a laugh attack? I have had more stressful times and I have gotten through them just fine. But then again, I do feel a little lighter, like the boulder sitting on my shoulders, called life, just got slightly lighter. Agh! Ever since Amara arrived, I have had more headaches than that Faker has ever given me.

"Shadow?" I look over at her, her face full of concern now. "Laughter isn't a bad thing you know, it's apart of the joys in life. If you don't let yourself at least enjoy the little pleasures in life, then what's the point of living it?" She smiles softly at me. "I don't know what goes on in your head, but I do know one thing: you don't deserve to be miserable your whole life. You have the capability to be a wonderful man, I just saw it. And we both know Maria would want you to become that man." She offers me her hand. "I don't expect you to suddenly change, but I do expect this thought to constantly be in your mind." I take her hand and she helps me up. "Dinner is done. Come help me set up the table." How can she do that? She gives reprimanding, but wise, words one moment and the next moment acts like nothing happened. I guess it is better than not dropping the situation.

We eat our meal in silence, but not in an awkward silence like this morning. I am too consumed by my thoughts to have conversation, yet Amara seems to know that and is okay with it. Just as I finish washing my own dishes, my wrist communicator goes off.

"Hello?" I answer. Rouge pops onto the screen.

"Hey Shadow. I just got word from Tails that Eggman has gotten a chaos emerald. You know what that means." I nod. "We start the search tomorrow morning. See you then." The screen goes black.

"What's all that about?" Amara asks behind me. I turn and face her.

"Every time the doctor acquires a chaos emerald, it means he has a new plan for world domination. When this happens, Faker, Tails, Rouge, and I search for the emeralds before the doctor can get them."

"Oh. How long does that usually take?" She asks.

"About two weeks."

Her eyes slightly widen. "That's pretty long. I'll leave you to get ready for your trip then. Since I probably won't see you in the morning: be careful and good luck Shadykins!" She grins at me and turns to clean up the kitchen.

I groan and retreat to my room. This is perfect timing. Now I can get away from that nickname and I will have all the time I need to try to figure out Amara, if not at least a little more, and think about what she told me. She has a point about Maria, which is very annoying. I should have been the one to have come to that conclusion. Agh, I will pester myself with these thoughts tomorrow. Right now I just need to rest and think about other things. I look out my window and into the starry sky.

"Goodnight Maria." I close my eyes and fall into a peaceful slumber.

**Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

** Over 500 views! I think that's just awesome. I literally had this chapter written out since last Saturday, but life decided to be a jerk and took away the free time that I could have used to type this up! As my favorite author, Tartarus Pixie, says, 'Damn life.' Oh well. I hope you enjoy!**

**I own Amara, the name 'Shadykins', and this story. The Sonic crew belongs to Sega**.

**Amara's P.O.V. **

It has only been a few days since Shadow and the others have left, and I am already bored out of my mind. Luckily, that is going to change. As of a few minutes ago, I now work at Sweetie Pie's Bakery. I may not need the money, since the crew insist on paying for everything with their unlimited cards, but I have way too much time on my hands. So I thought getting a job would be a good time killer, and, not to mention, I also like baking.

Since I'm already in town, I decide to pay the mall a visit. As I enter the mall, a flash of pink catches my eye. I look and find the pink color belonging to Amy. She is looking at some shirts on sale. I walk over to greet her.

"Hey Amy!" I smile at her. She glances at me, then continues looking at the shirts.

"Oh. Hey." This is certainly some odd behavior for Amy.

"Are you okay Amy? Did I do something to upset you?" I ask confused and concerned. She faces me, eyes cold.

"I'm just fine. Why don't you go flirt with Sonic or something?" Oh. So she finally found out about Sonic's crush on me.

"Amy." I say in a stern voice. "I am not interested in Sonic in that way. I just want to be friends with him. Besides, I know how much you like him. I would never jeopardize our friendship over something like that."

She looks at me suspicious, then lowers her head and tiredly exhales. "Oh, I'm sorry Amara. I'm just... really stressed out and confused at the moment." Amy's eyes begin to water. "Before Sonic left, when I was making another attempt to get him to go on a date with me, he told me that he really just wants to be friends and that he was interested in someone else. I managed to pry who it was from him: you. That made me really jealous. I'm just so emotional right now. And to add to all this, I also want to try and let Sonic go. I just can't keep riding on this emotional roller coaster!" Tears start to pour down her face. I pull her into a hug.

"You'll be okay Amy. I'll help you through this." I soothe. "How about I come stay with you for awhile? I don't mind and can actually use the company."

"That would be amazing of you." She pulls out of the hug and wipes at her tears. "Thank you."

"Of course. Now, let's start off with some shopping."

**XXXXX**

Two weeks flew by pretty fast. I just love my new job, and my boss is awesome, she's already like a grandma to me. Band practices are twice a week and are amazing. My new flute sounds like a dream and the band members are so nice and funny. When I am not working or at band practice, I spend my time consoling Amy. Cream comes over and helps too. Amy has made a lot of progress, and, after many spilt tears and talks, Amy can finally see a picture of Sonic without tearing up or getting fan-girly. But she still cares for the blue hero more than she should. Nonetheless, it's still progress.

"He's seriously letting you call him that?!" Amy shouts out disbelievingly. I grin and nod.

"I did promise not to do it in front if other people, excluding the crew of course, and that I would be the only one to call him that. Will you promise not to call him that? Otherwise, no one can!" I fake being horrified. "It's too cute to let that happen!"

Amy giggles. "You are so right! I promise not to call him that." I grin at her. A knock suddenly sounds from the front door.

"I'll get it." I stand from her living room couch and go in the little hallway that leads to the front door. I peek through the eye hole and see Shadow. Speak of the devil. "Shadykins!" I gleefully shout as I open the door and let him inside. As promised, he glares at me as he walks in. "What are you doing here?"

"I am here to check on Rose and I am also looking for you." He says annoyed.

"Me? Why?"

"Because the house is dusty like you have not been there for a long time, and there was no note. Did you forget that there is still the possibility you can suddenly go back to your world?" My eyes widen. I did. How can I forget that? I look down, slightly ashamed.

"You're right. I should've left a note or something." I look up at him again. "You could've called my cell phone too you know." I point out.

"I do not have your number." He grumbles and goes to the living room, leaving me standing in the small hallway. Someone's having a rough day. I follow him to the living room.

"Shadow!" Amy grins and gives him a hug. He smirks and lightly hugs her back.

"Hello Rose. How are you doing?" Oh, so I'm the only one to receive his attitude? I shake my head free of that thought. Amy is having a rough time. She does not need his attitude.

"I'm alright. I've finally decided to try and move on from Sonic, and Amara has been a HUGE help." She smiles appreciatively at me. Shadow's eyes widen.

"You. Are. Moving. On?" He asks dumbfounded. "What brought this on?"

"Sonic told me he wanted to be friends, like usual, but he also told me he was interested in someone else." Her eyes flick not-so-subtly to me. Shadow looks at me too, eyes narrowed.

"Hey." I say defensively, putting my hands up. "I already told Amy that I did not feel the same way and that I wouldn't do that to our friendship anyway." He looks at me for a second more, then turns to Amy.

"I am glad you are finally moving on from that faker, Rose."

She smiles sadly at him. "It was bound to happen, I guess. It's hard though, trying to move on. Sometimes I feel like it can be possible, but other times I feel like it isn't." Her eyes become watery.

"It is alright Rose. You have friends to help you through this." He comforts her.

"Correct, Shadykins." I say as I walk up and pat Amy's arm. Amy giggles and Shadow growls. I smirk at him and change the subject. "So, how'd the trip go?"

"We have acquired five of the chaos emeralds, while the doctor has the other two. Now we wait for him to make the first move." Shadow states.

Suddenly another knocking is heard from the front door. "Who is it this time?" I ask out loud and head for the door. I peek through the eyehole again and see the blue hero: Sonic. "Uh oh." I say under my breath, hoping he goes before Amy finds out. I open the door and politely greet him. "Hello Sonic, do you need something?"

"Amara! Hi! Didn't expect to see you here. Umm... is Amy home?" He asks nervously. I nod. Seeing I don't plan on moving until I find out what he wants, Sonic sighs and scratches the back of his head. "I just wanted to check up on her. You see, I told her some things that I know was hard for her to hear before I left, and since I'm still her friend, I hope, I want to make sure she's doing okay."

"Oh. Do you want to come in then?" I offer.

"No, no. It'll probably be better if you just tell me."

"Okay... she's fine. You're right, it was hard for her to hear, but I've been helping her and she's a lot better. As far as I know, you are still her friend."

"Did she... uhh... tell you what I told her?" Sonic asks nervously.

"Yes. Yes she did." I honestly say. No good comes from lying, even if you really want to.

"Well... what do you think?"

I sigh heavily. "Sonic, I like you, but only as a friend." His ears droop down in disappointment.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry."

"How about one date? You might change your mind." He asks hopefully.

I shake my head. "I really can't see you as more than a friend."

"Is there something wrong with me?"

"No, you just have all the qualities I would want in a friend, not a boyfriend." I'm starting to lose my patience.

"Just tell me what to change, and I'll do it." He pleads.

"Sonic." I'm annoyed now. "You need to accept that we are just friends, and if you can't, then I'm afraid we can't be even that."

His shoulders slump in defeat. "Okay."

Feeling bad, I give him a hug. "You're a good guy Sonic, but we aren't meant for each other." I pull away and meet his sad eyes. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay." He fake-smiles at me and dashes off, a sonic boom sounding a second later. I sigh and close the door. I turn and suddenly come face-to-face with a fuming Amy.

"How could you do that to Sonic?! He just showed you his feelings, but you still turned him down! You should have given him a chance! Now he's hurt!"

"If I said yes, I would end up hurting Sonic even more! I know Sonic and I can never be more than friends, so giving him false hope like that would just make things even worse." I argue.

"He deserves to be happy! After all that he's done for this world! You could at least pretend to like him and make him happy. I know I would!" Amy shouts at me, eyes aflame. I gape at her, then rage suddenly boils inside of me.

"What is wrong with you?! Sonic doesn't deserve to be lied to like that! I am not like you; I wouldn't do that to anyone!"

"Ha! Yeah right." She sneers at me. "I know you're pretending to care about Shadow. You're just another girl who thinks they can 'break' Shadow! He's just some challenge to you, not a friend!"

"How dare you." I growl. I look at Shadow, who has been standing and listening this whole time a few feet behind Amy, and say, "You know that's not true. Tell her it's not true."

He stares blankly at me for a few seconds, then he says in a hard voice, "It makes sense to me." My mouth hangs open. Instead of getting hurt like last time, my anger is fueled.

"Are you kidding me?" I ask in a low, deadly voice. I am so angry, my vision is even getting weird. The shadows in this room appear to be moving, like they want to come to me. Realizing I won't be able to contain my anger much longer, I turn to Amy. "I told you I wouldn't let Sonic jeopardize my friendship with you, but you obviously do not feel the same way." I whirl towards Shadow. "And you need to be more trusting. If you were to tell me the world is going to end, I would believe you. But if it was reversed, not only would you not believe me, but you'd also disregard my claim like it is nothing." I take a breath and try to calm myself down. "I'm leaving. Don't come to me, I'll come to you when I'm ready." I yank the door open and quickly head to my car. Normally, I would stay and try to settle this, but I am too aggravated to accomplish that with a clear mind and judgement.

Once I am back at the house, I head straight for Shadow's punching bag and let all my frustration out. I kick, punch, yell, and scream repeatedly until I fall to the floor in exhaustion and pass out.

**XXXXX**

I pull into Amy's driveway the next morning. Thanks to the punching bag, I am not so angry anymore, just annoyed. I didn't have to get so angry, but I hate being called a liar, even if it's implied. Prepared for the worst, I ring Amy's doorbell. The door flies open and a pink blur zooms towards me and gives me a tight hug.

"Oh Amara! I'm so sorry! You're right about everything! I guess I let my jealousy get the best of me. I am such a terrible friend!" She starts to sob on my shoulder. "I-I'm so s-sorry!" I pat her back gently.

"Okay Amy. I forgive you." I tell her. She pulls away and looks at me.

"Really? After all that I said to you?" She looks at me ashamed.

"I understand that you are going through an emotional time right now and outbursts like that are to be expected. But next time I won't be so forgiving." I warn her.

"Don't worry, there won't be a next time." Amy confidently claims, wiping away her tears. She gives me another hug. "I'm so lucky to have a friend like you." She steps back and grabs my wrist. "Come on in! I have just made some breakfast." Amy pulls me into her house. As I walk in the door, Amy lets go and takes off towards the kitchen, passing Shadow, who is at the end of the little hallway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Noticing me, he straightens up and begins to open his mouth.

"Stop." I put up my hand in a stopping motion. "You don't need to apologize. You were simply stating your opinion. I have yet to earn or give you a valid reason for you to give me your trust, so I shouldn't expect to already have your trust." I smile at him. He looks back at me with uncertainty. I walk up to him and pat his arm. "Really. There's no need. Now, let's go eat." I walk pass him and go into the kitchen, him right behind me.

We eat the delicious breakfast and act like the earlier incident never happened. We are in the middle of cleaning up, when Amy's communicator goes off. "Hello?" She answers.

Tails appears on the screen. "Amy! Eggman is attacking Station Square! We need to get there, and fast!"

"Okay. Shadow and Amara are with me. We'll meet you there." She replies. Tails nods and the screen goes black.

"I'm coming too?" I ask nervously.

"You could help, and all help is appreciated." Amy smiles reassuringly at me.

"But I don't even have a weapon to defend myself with." I point out. Suddenly, Shadow grabs Amy and I.

"Chaos Control!" In a red flash, we end up in Shadow's house. Shadow zooms off before either of us can ask what he's doing and is back a couple seconds later.

"Here." He hands me a belt with two handguns and reloadable sleeves for them. Wide-eyed, I take the belt and wrap it securely around my waist. Amy smiles approvingly at me.

"Time to introduce you to Eggman."

**Oooo, some action next chapter! Finally! **

**I would love some reviews! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**I realized I totally spelt the author I mentioned last chapter wrong. It's Taurus Pixie. Oops. Shows how much I pay attention. ;) I am personally pretty proud of this chapter, not going to lie. I hope you enjoy!**

**I own Amara and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega.**

**Amara's P.O.V. **

"Chaos Control!" Another burst of red light, and we find ourselves in the middle of a chaotic Station Square. Eggman's robots are everywhere, crushing and blasting buildings around them. And to top it all off, it's also snowing. Now I get to be cold.

"Let's do this!" Amy smirks, her hammer materializing from who-knows-where. She charges the robots nearest to her, smashing in their heads. Shadow zooms off, spin-dashing and punching out their circuits as he passes, leaving me to defend myself. I nervously load one of my guns and look around. Rubble and fires are everywhere. So much destruction, all because of one evil being. My nervousness dissolves and is replaced with anger. I aim my gun at a robot and shoot. The bullet rips right through its head, causing it to short-circuit. Not stopping to be amazed be my acute accuracy, I load my other gun and begin to shoot, not missing once.

I hear an engine roar above me, and I look up. Tails is flying his jet with Sonic and Knuckles on the wings, and Blaze is inside with Tails. Rouge and Silver flew themselves and are now on the ground next to me.

"You never told me you were handy with a gun Amara." Rouge raises an eyebrow at me.

"I just found out myself." I shrug.

"Time to kick some eggbutt!" Sonic fist-pumps and jumps off the jet and into a crowd of robots.

"Hey! Don't hog them all, hedgehog!" Knuckles shouts and jumps after him.

"Clever, Knuckie." Rouge says to herself, shaking her head, and she goes to join the fight. The rest of us follow suit and join the battle. It isn't long before there are no more robots left, so we all meet back up at Tails' now-grounded jet.

"Piece of cake, as usual." Sonic says with a cocky smirk. He suddenly frowns. "However, I haven't seen Eggman once this whole time. Have you guys?" We all shake our heads no.

"Hey, where's Amy?" Blaze asks. We suddenly hear a scream not too far away.

"SONIC!" We hear Amy shriek and see her get carried off by Eggman in his little hovercraft.

"AMY!" Sonic shouts worriedly after her. "Come on! After him!" Sonic streaks off, beginning the chase. Shadow zooms off after him. The rest of us either climb on the jet or fly ourselves. I take Sonic's spot on the jet wing, holding on for dear life once we take off. It also happened to be the coldest ride of my life. We catch sight of both of the speeding hedgehogs and follow them. We eventually arrive to Eggman's base, and Tails lands the jet outside the entrance. A thick, huge metal door blocks the entrance.

"I can crack the code." Tails goes over to the door's control panel. Just as he reaches it, Knuckles suddenly steps up to the door and smashes a big hole through it. We all look at him.

"What? He already knows we're here." He grumbles before stepping through the hole. We follow him and begin the search for Eggman and Amy. Not a single robot or trap appears to come stop us.

"Something is wrong." Shadow states ominously.

"What do you mean Shadow?" Tails asks.

"The doctor did not show himself earlier and give his usual supercilious speech, and non of his inventions are attempting to stops us. He has something planned and it's going to be very different." Just then, we enter a large room. The walls have numerous computer screens and there is a large keyboard at one end of the room. The control room.

"Ah! Look who's decided to join us: Sonic the hedgerat and his rodent friends!" Eggman is standing in front of the keyboard, and next to him is a gagged Amy, tied up and suspended from the ceiling with a rope.

"Yeah yeah egghead. Just let Amy go, or I can easily rescue her. Either way works." Sonic says nonchalantly.

"He sure looked pretty worried earlier." Silver whispers to Knuckles. Knuckles snickers loudly and Sonic shoots both of them a glare.

Eggman chuckles darkly. "Now now Sonic. Things change. You see, I've grown tired of all this and your constant pestering. I've had my fun, now it's time to get serious. Hand over the rest of the Emeralds and I'll spare your pink friend here." Eggman pulls out a gun and points it directly at a wide-eyed Amy. Shock courses through the crew.

"He's serious." Knuckles says, astounded. I look at the rest of the crew's faces and see the same expression as Knuckles on them. Even Shadow looks shocked. Eggman has never threatened to kill one of them before, and, in this world, murder is not a common thing, so that is shocking enough for them. Unfortunately, murder is a common thing in my world, so Eggman's threat doesn't faze me. I nudge Shadow, knowing he'd be the first to recover from the shock.

"Shadow, get ready to catch Amy." I whisper to him. Puzzled, he looks at me. Instead of explaining, I pull out a gun and shoot the rope holding Amy. A gust of wind hits me as Shadow rushes up to catch Amy, and he returns with her in his arms. Next, I aim my gun at Eggman and shoot the gun out of his hand.

"Wha- How dare you! Who are you?" Eggman shouts frustratedly at me. Keeping my gun aimed at him, I smirk.

"My name is Amara Vipsin. I am a newly-turned hedgehog from another world where I was originally human. Unlike these good-hearted creatures here, murder doesn't deter me. That being said, I'll only warn you once; If you fatally harm anyone of these people, I won't hesitate to kill you." I received wide-eyed look from everyone, including Eggman. Then his face falls into a frown.

"Bots! Intruders!" He shouts out. Numerous panels in the walls suddenly open and more of the robots from earlier emerge. A panel opening right next to me causes me to move my focus from Eggman to the robots appearing. Shadow quickly unties Amy, and everyone moves into action. A couple minutes of battling, however, Eggman laughs.

"Ho ho ho! I'll be getting those Emeralds, with or without your cooperation!" He retrieves a remote from his pocket and presses a button. Two more, bigger, panels open up, and out come two twelve-foot tall, golden robots. Inside both of their chests is a chaos emerald, their energy being used by the robots. "Meet the imperishable Robo-chaos 1 and 2! My greatest invention and your doom!"

"Come on egghead! You know I'll destroy them easily!" Sonic confidently says while still fighting.

"Go ahead and try, hedgerat." Eggman says, at ease. Sonic runs up to the robots and spin-dashes then. He bounces off like a rubber ball, not leaving a single scratch behind.

"Huh?" Sonic tries again, but this time the robot swings his arm and sends Sonic crashing into a wall, dazing him. Both robots begin to advance towards him.

"You guys go help Sonic! We'll handle these guys." I shout out to Shadow, Knuckles, and Silver. They nod and go to Sonic's aid, leaving me, Amy, Blaze, Rouge, and Tails to deal with the smaller robots. As the number of robots begins to die down, I send one person from our group at a time to help Sonic and the others, who seem to be making no progress. Eventually, it's just me against the last twenty robots. I ran out of ammo long ago and had to use guns from fallen robots. Fatigue is starting to set in, forcing me to solely focus on the robots surrounding me. After what seems hours of dodging and shooting, the smaller robots are finally destroyed. I turn and look to see how the others are doing, and gasp.

Only Shadow and Sonic are still fighting. Everybody else is unconscious and strewn around the room, bloody, broken, and tattered. Sonic suddenly soars past me, smashes into the wall, falls to the ground, and remains motionless. That leaves me and Shadow as the only conscious ones. I aim my gun at Robo-Chaos 1, but then I put it down. Both robots do not have a single scratch, a dent, or a mark on them. What's a bullet going to do? So I stand there, useless, as I watch Shadow fight them.

I spot Eggman grinning evilly across the room. I begin to make my way over to him, determined to get him to stop those things. But before I get even halfway there, Shadow yells in pain. I stop dead in my tracks and whirl around.

Shadow is sitting up on the ground, clutching his right arm, which is bent at a sickening angle. His clothes are basically ripped to shreds and are bloody. Trying to ignore his pain and continue fighting, Shadow stands up. Just as he does, however, Robo-Chaos 2 grabs him and flings him against the wall. As Shadow makes contact with the wall, a nauseating crack is heard, and he drops to the ground. Barely able to move, Shadow and I make eye contact, Shadow's face twisted in agony.

Seeing him in that much pain snaps something inside of me. Fury boils throughout my every being, and a dark mist begins to surround me. I catch my reflection in some broken glass and see my fur turn a blood-red color, my hair turning pitch-black and billowing out around my head, and my eyes go completely white. I've become dark. Grinning wickedly, I look away from my reflection and again notice the shadows in the room. So they do move. Something about my anger makes me able to see then. Or rather see what's hiding inside the shadows. Inside each and every shadow, a tendril of darkness lurks. It is what makes your sins known, what makes your hair stand when you're alone, and what makes you have nightmares. It is what makes every dark thing so dark. It also makes up the mist surrounding me now.

As I've noticed before, they are indeed calling out to me, yearning to reach me. "Come." I softly call out to them. They free themselves from their hiding places and dissolve into me, filling me with an immense power that no one has yet to experience or see. The mist increases ten times it's original size, giving the room a soul-chilling feel to it.

Refreshed, I face the robots. They march towards me, and once they get close enough, I punch my fists through both their chests and destroy their circuitry. I hear a frightened gasp, so I turn and look at Eggman. I smile maliciously.

"What's the matter Eggman? Scared? Too bad you didn't heed my warning." I tsk and advance towards him. Eggman squeaks in fear and tries to escape in his hovercraft. I send the mist to wrap itself around him and bring him in front of me. He begins to whimper.

"P-please don't k-kill me!" He wails.

"Pathetic." I say, impartial to his blubbering. I morph some mist into a long, black spear. I pull my arm back and aim.

"Amara." A weak voice calls out. I freeze and turn my head. Shadow is barely standing, leaning on his right leg, which isn't broken. "Stop." He says faintly, but I hear. His leg suddenly gives out from under him and he begins to fall. I propel myself over to him and catch him, letting Eggman escape. Concern overrides the vengeance inside me, returning me back to normal, the darkness returning to the shadows.

"I need to get you to a hospital." I lay him gently down on the ground. "Everyone needs to, but I don't know how I can do that quickly!" I start to tear up, feeling completely helpless.

"I can chaos control us there." He says determinedly, still weak.

"No! You'll end up killing yourself!" I exclaim.

"Better than anyone else dying." He growls. A thought suddenly hits me.

"Wait, there are two emeralds here. Will that be enough energy for you to use and still survive?" I ask hopefully. He nods.

I rush over to the remains of the golden robots and retrieve the two emeralds. I run back to Shadow and give them to him. Then I drag all our friends over to where Shadow is so it's easier to transport them.

"Okay." I huff. "Let's go." He nods.

"Chaos Control!" A bright white light surrounds us and momentarily blinds me. When I regain my sight, I see we are in a reception area of a hospital.

"Oh my goodness!" The receptionist exclaims from the sight before her. I suddenly hear a thump and turn to see what it was. Shadow is now fully unconscious, the emeralds hidden somewhere. "Attention staff: immediate medical help is requested in the reception area." She announces over the intercom. She then rushes over to me. "Are you alright? What in the world happened?"

Time becomes a blur after that. I explain many times what happened to my friends. and I refuse all the help they offer me, telling them that I just need some rest, that they need to focus on helping my friends. I keep my head clear of thoughts. There was too much that happened today for me to process right now. Since he has passed out, I have kept an eye on Shadow, and when they put him on a stretcher and take him to his room, I follow.

"I wonder how long Shadow will stay this time." One of the men pushing Shadow's stretcher says. "He seems to never stay more than a day." They enter his room and I go to follow, but am stopped.

"Sorry miss, but you are not allowed in there at the moment." An older dog, male doctor tells me.

"But I need to make sure he's okay." I try to argue.

"I'm sorry, but you still aren't allowed. We'll keep you updated on his condition if you'll wait in the waiting room though." He tries to assure me. Unsatisfied, I try to think up a plan.

"May I speak to your superior?"

"I am the owner of this hospital." He states.

"Oh. Well how about I make a deal with you. We both know Shadow will leave as soon as he wakes up, healed or not. And as a doctor, that must be frustrating. What if I make Shadow promise to stay until he is discharged? Could I stay with him then? I'll even let the nurses check me over." I plead. He thinks about it for a moment. A good sign.

"Could you really get him to stay?" He asks skeptically. I nod. "Fine. But only until he wakes up, and if you stay out of the medics' way."

"Thank you sir." I smile and shake his hand. I enter Shadow's room and watch the doctor and nurses tend him, refusing to rest until I know he's going to be okay. As I watch, a nurse checks me over, later confirming that I just need some rest. I told them so. After all the nurses and the doctor leaves, I drag a chair next to Shadow's bedside and sit down. I look and see it's only 5pm. What a long yet short day! I release a tired sigh and close my eyes, finally getting some much-needed rest.

**I hope you thought this was as awesome as I thought it was!**

**Reviews would be amazing!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Yikes! I haven't had ANY time to work on this until late Friday and Saturday night! Can it just be summer already? *whimper* Just one more year of high school! I can do this!**

**I'd like to thank Hazel the Cat for the review! My main concern about this story is the fact that it is an OC story, but your review actually gave me some relief! And, of course, thanks to Christian Ape99, whose reviews always make my day!**

**A little over a month and I already have nearly 1000 views! Sweet! For you Shadow fans, these next few chapters we will be getting closer to Shadow. Continuing on now!**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic crew belongs to Sega.**

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

There are two reasons why I do not let my mind sleep: it is unnecessary and I always have nightmares. Not dreams, nightmares. Usually it is having to relive the memory of Maria's death, but, of course, this time is different.

Instead of being on the Ark, I am standing in the middle of Amy's Field, the sun shining its warm morning rays on the grasses. I hear a whimper behind me and I turn. There, standing in a straight line, are cloaked, hooded figures that are tied up at the wrists and are being held at gun-point by human soldiers. The leader of the soldiers looks at me and laughs a cruel laugh.

"Some Ultimate Lifeform you are. You can't even save your friends." With that said, he walks up to a hooded figure at the end of the line, and he yanks back their hood, revealing Tails. "So now you get to watch them die." He quickly pulls out his gun and shoots Tails, killing him instantly. I try to move, but I find my body paralyzed. I cannot even utter a single sound. The leader continues to reveal and kill the hooded people, all people I know, while I focus every ounce of my mental abilities on moving. Rouge, young Cream, Knuckles, Blaze, Silver, and Faker himself, are all lying on the ground, lifeless. Finally, I manage to let a growl loose. If I could only move! There are three figures left now. The leader pulls back another hood and Rose's tear-stained face appears.

"No!" I growl, still unable to move. The man grins, then shoots her. I feel a sharp pang in my chest, and I fight my immobile state even more, full of fury. He goes to the next hood and uncovers Amara. She meets my eyes with her calm, brown ones, and she smiles at me softly.

"Goodbye Shadykins." A shot sounds and she slumps to the ground. My growl this time is animalistic, the sharp pain in my chest intensifying. Move damn it! The leader removes the last hood, uncovering Maria.

"NO!" I shout and take a step forward. Faster! The man raises his gun and aims. He goes to pull the trigger, when everything freezes.

"Leave this room, now!" A familiar, but unrecognizable, female voice commands, sounding like it came from everywhere. I blink, and I find everyone is gone when I open my eyes again. Not a single sign of the bloody and horrific event remains. It is just me in a now-peaceful meadow.

"Finally! I got through!" I whirl around and find Tikal, the echidna princess that resides inside the Master Emerald, right behind me.

"Tikal, what is going on?" I demand, needing to know what this madness is about. Tikal shakes her head confused.

"I do not know. Some darkness was just giving you a nightmare, when it just suddenly completely disappeared, giving me the chance to visit you in your dream. Almost like something chased it away." She rubs her chin thoughtfully.

"Darkness? What do you mean by that?"

"I do not have enough time to tell you everything, but I can tell you it is what gives you nightmares and also what prevents me from entering your dreams."

"Why are you here then?" I ask, deciding to get to the point and voice my questions later.

"No one has a chaos emerald on them except for you. I can only communicate with someone if they touch the Master Emerald or a chaos emerald. Since you have two emeralds hiding in your quills, therefore touching a chaos emerald, you are the only person I can communicate with. I lucked out with the darkness abruptly disappearing from your dreams like that, normally it does not leave someone completely alone like that, but I am positive it will not be long before it returns. I need you and the others to come to the Master Emerald after you are all healed so I can tell you some vital information. I shall give you a piece of the information now, in case something should happen before our next meeting." She looks at me in complete seriousness, and, in a almost chant-like voice, she says:

"_One named for darkness, yet heart full of humanity_

_Controls both the ancient powers of Chaos_

_Destined to awaken His Darkness_

_Converted to serve and obey for eternity_

_A sentenced world to be forever lightless_

_Another controls the ancient powers of the world_

_A heart made of gold, dangerous to all foes_

_Their lover temps them, 'Join the darkness'_

_Forced to make a choice, the world's fate to be determined_

_The world's only hope from escaping darkness_"

The meadow begins to flicker around me. "Alas, we have run out of time. You are waking up. Remember what I have said Shadow." With that, Tikal and what was left of my dream ends and I bolt up into a sitting position, barely able to ignore my aching body's painful protests. Breathing heavily, I look around and see I am in a hospital room. I look at myself next and find a broken left leg, a broken right arm, what feels like some broken ribs, and many sore spots and bruises. I groan and gently lay back down. This is the first time I have had multiple broken bones. I hear soft breathing to my left, and I look, only to find Amara, curled up in a chair right next to my bed, deeply asleep. Seeing her so peaceful now reminds me of her dark form. How unnatural she looked in that form. Seeing her like that actually gave me chills. She was nowhere near the cheery, annoying girl I have come to know. And she was a second away from taking the doctor's life. Dark Sonic would have beaten up the doctor for sure, but I am certain he would not kill him, unless the doctor killed one of Sonic's friends. Amara was really going to do it though, if I had not stopped her. A realization hits me. The mist surrounding her was about ten times bigger than it should have been. The pain I was in then prevented me from witnessing what caused this to happen, but I do remember the mist being normal-sized when she first transformed.

Deciding to ask her about it after she wakes up, I shake my head clear of the image, hoping I would not have to see that again for a very long time. I focus back on the sleeping magenta hedgehog. This girl has not only saved my life, but everyone else's too. Now we all are in her debt. I notice her curl in on herself, trying to get warmer. I peel off one of the unnecessary layers of blankets from my bed and lay it over her the best I can with my left arm. She sighs and takes the blanket, wrapping it tighter around herself. I look at the time and find it is 3 a.m. Seeing I have nothing better to do, I return to my normal slumber: my body resting while my mind stays awake. No way am I going to risk dreaming again.

**XXXXX**

Five hours later, I hear Amara finally start to wake up, so I awake my body. I open my eyes and watch her sit up groggily.

"That is quite the case of bed head you have." I smirk at her. She shoots me a glare. She shifts her gaze to something on the other side of me and her eyes widen in shock and... is that fear? I whip my head to the direction of her gaze and find only a vase of sun flowers on a bedside table. Confused, I look back at her. "What is it?" She tears her gaze away from whatever she is looking at and looks back at me, a little sheepish.

"Sorry. I just realized I have not once asked about, or even know, how any of the others are doing. I'm just really worried." She looks away and scoffs. "Now I worry about them, after hours of being here." She shakes her head, ashamed. "I'm not a very good friend."

"Well, what kept you from checking up on them?" I ask, indifferent to her self-chastising.

"I have stayed by your side since you teleported us here. Then, after you got bandaged up, I fell asleep. Now here we are."

"Out of everyone else you could have chosen to stick to, why me?" I ask her. Uncertainty crosses her face.

"Because... I... Hmm." She gets lost in thought, trying to find an answer. Annoyance suddenly flares within me.

"Well?" I huff.

Finding her answer, she straightens up and meets my gaze head-on. "Because, whether you like it or not, you are, indeed, my friend. You were in a very bad shape earlier, and I was worried sick. Also, I thought you would need my company more. Since the crew is also hospitalized, I don't know anyone else that would visit you. So here I am."

She considers me a friend? If she were anybody else, she would have given up long ago. But she did not, and she even saved my life, something I will not forget until I repay the favor. She even has earned some of my trust. No one has all of my trust, not even Rose, but Amara's past actions have proven her to be trustworthy enough for me. She is now the third most trusted person I know right now.

A thought occurs to me. "How did you get to stay the night? The hospital only allows one family member to do that." Amara shifts, a look of uneasiness on her face.

"Well, I made a deal with the owner."

"Which was?" I raise an eyebrow.

"That if I got you to promise to stay here until you get discharged, I could stay with you until you woke up." She smiles nervously.

I narrow my eyes. "Not happening."

"Please, Shadow? It's not so bad here. And I would actually prefer you staying here, like you are supposed to, deal or no deal."

"Well you are not the one who has to stay here, are you?" I glare at her.

"I would if I could! But I can't. They wouldn't allow that."

"Really." I cock an eyebrow, dubious. She nods. We will see about that. A brown dog knocks and enters the room.

"Nice to see you awake and still here Shadow." The doctor greets me. He turns his attention to Amara. "I'm guessing you succeeded?"

I answer for her. "No. We were just discussing it, as a matter of fact. I do not like the outcome. Instead, I will agree to stay here until I am discharged only if she gets to come and stay here at anytime during my stay, visiting hours or not." The doctor looks at me to see if I am serious. Fool. Out of the corner of my eye I see Amara looking at everything in the room.

Finally he answers, "Only if she follows the visiting hour rules with the rest of your friends and if she signs in every time she comes to visit you."

"Very well. I will stay until you say I can leave, and Amara here is free to come and stay only in this room at any time until I leave." I then smirk at Amara. "Does that work for you?"

She looks back at me and raises her chin. "Yup."

Shaking my head at her stubbornness, I turn my attention back to the doctor. "What are the conditions of the others?"

"Ah, yes." He pulls out his clipboard and flips through some pages. "Miles has suffered some blood loss, has a broken arm, a cracked rib, and has some major bruising. Knuckles has a concussion, 5 broken ribs, and both of his legs broken. Rouge has a serious case of whiplash and 3 broken ribs. Blaze has a broken leg, a concussion, and suffered blood loss. Silver has a crack in his skull, 3 cracked ribs, and a broken arm. Sonic has a concussion, 4 broken ribs, a broken arm, and suffered some major blood loss. And Amy has a two broken ribs and has suffered some blood loss and head trauma. Her head was hit hard enough to where she is now in a small coma. But not to worry, the signs now show she should wake up in maybe a few days or so. Then she should be fine. Other than Amy, everyone else has woken up at least once." The doctor tries to say reassuringly. But I do not fall for it. Poor Rose.

Guessing my thoughts, Amara says warningly, "Shadow." I look at her. "Don't go running off when you are in no shape to do so at the moment. You need to wait to see Amy until you can move, or, if it is really urgent, I can go and see her for you." I narrow my eyes.

"What gives you the right to tell me what to do?" I half growl.

"You want to get out of here sooner? Then I suggest you be smart and focus on healing before you go and make things worse." She says in a stern voice. Once again, she has a point. I growl and comply, knowing she will not budge on this matter. Amara turns to the doctor. "What's Shadow's condition?"

"You, Shadow, have one broken leg and arm, 5 broken ribs, 2 cracked ribs, a crack in your skull, and some major bruising." Hmph. I could have told him that. "You and the rest of your friends are lucky you came in when you did, otherwise things could have been much worse." Remembering who is responsible for that, I look over at Amara. She does not meet my eyes. "Well, I just need to check up on you and then I'll leave." The doctor informs us, probably sensing my need to have a private conversation with Amara. It actually doesn't take long for him to do his check up. He departs, leaving me and Amara alone again.

"Amara." She turns her head towards me, still not meeting my eyes. "What happened yesterday?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what happened to make your dark form that strong?" Her gaze goes back to the area where the sunflowers are, and she stays silent for a couple seconds.

"I'm not sure why that happened." She eventually whispers. "I was just so angry. It was like I've done it hundreds of times before, yet it was my first time being dark."

"Hmm. That is something we need to figure out and see if it is a lot more dangerous than we realize." I tell her. She nods. A couple moments of awkward silence passes before Amara breaks it.

"Sooo... do you want hospital food, or do you want me cooking all your meals?" She asks me, changing the subject. "I don't mind cooking, I just don't want to eat the hospital food." She grimaces.

"Cooking would be good then." I nod.

"Well then, I'll go make some food. Do you need anything from home?"

After telling her what I wanted, Amara leaves, also promising to visit Rose as well. Having Rose in that nightmare and then learning she is in a coma makes it really hard not to just push my way through the staff and find a way to wake her up. But Amara is right, I would not be doing any good by doing that. She is almost just as bossy and annoyingly cheery as Rose can be though. And I just made it possible for her to practically live here for a little while if she wanted. What have I done?

**Reviews make my day! Just thought you guys should know. ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Sorry, I've been busy. :P I'm just gonna say thanks for all the reviews I've gotten so far guys! I may not have thanked/mentioned some you specifically, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it! **

**I even appreciate yours, Xena. I was not offended by your review, for it was said in a nice manner. Some of the things you mentioned I was aware of, but couldn't help, and some I wasn't aware of. So, I thank you for that and I'm glad you still like this story. **

***~X~* means a flashback is either starting or ending. This chapter is a bit longer than usual, just so you guys know.**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega.**

**Amara's P.O.V.**

I. Need. Air! I walk as quick as I can to the hospital entrance, trying not to draw attention to my haste. Once I walk through the entrance doors and am outside, I fill my lungs full of fresh air and lean against the outside wall. I just woke up a little over half an hour ago and already my mind is overwhelmed! And it all started around 2:24 this morning.

**_*~X~* _**

I am startled awake by fierce growling. Quickly rubbing my eyes awake, I look around to see what is responsible for the noise. I find Shadow, muscles tense, face drawn into a fierce snarl, and, underneath it all, fear also etched onto his face. But that's not all. Surrounding his head is one of the dark tendrils, in mist form. My eyes widen. Shadow is experiencing a nightmare, and darkness is the reason for it. I try to swat away the darkness, but my hand goes right through it.

I am in the middle of thinking what I should do to get it away, when Shadow suddenly shouts out desperately, "NO!" and does a small kick with his good leg. This has gone on enough. Anger flares inside me, and I feel the same energy I felt earlier return.

Letting my instincts take over, I focus on the darkness. "Leave this room, now!" The dark mist snaps back into its tendril form and zips off back into the shadows. I plop back down into my seat, suddenly exhausted. I look back at Shadow and find his face clear of fear and rage. He is, however, still tense. I look at the time and see how early it is. I close my eyes and fall instantly back asleep.

**_*~X~*_**

I lean away from the wall and begin my walk to Shadow's house. Even if my car were here, I'd still walk. It may be cold out, but this gives me some much-needed time to think to myself. Like how I can see darkness everywhere now. I didn't notice it the first time I woke up, it was too dark, but I noticed it the second time. I saw one hiding in the shadow of the flower vase next to Shadow. And when Shadow looked right where I was looking and asked me what I was looking at, I knew he couldn't see it. Not like I can. So I told him it was nothing, just that I was worried about the others. What I told him was true, but it wasn't exactly on my mind at that moment. He wouldn't believe me if I told him what I saw, he has a hard enough time trusting me with simple things now! So until I have no other choice but to tell him what I see, since I still intend to keep my promise I made to Shadow, or if I can prove darkness' existence somehow, I won't tell anyone what I can see.

As I walk on the snow-covered sidewalk, I observe all of the shadows that I can see. I have yet to find a shadow without a tendril inside it. Since waking up the second time, I see darkness everywhere I look. What has changed to make me constantly see them now? I walk past a park and I see a young, happy couple sitting on a bench, under a tree's shadow. I stop. In that shadow, not a single tendril of darkness lurks. Why? It is the perfect spot for many of them. At least I know it's possible for a shadow to be tendril-free. Storing away the new observation I just made, I look away from the couple and continue my thoughts and walk home. Another thing, the darkness doesn't call to me anymore. Now they just sit there, watching, almost like they're waiting for something. Or for someone to feel negative feelings. When the doctor told Shadow and I about Amy's condition back at the hospital, a dark tendril zipped, almost too fast for me to see, right into Shadow. If I hadn't of witnessed that, I would not have noticed how Shadow's face slightly darkened, and how he suddenly gave off an intimidating vibe. That's also how I knew, not guessed, that Shadow was going to try to go visit Amy. My guess is that darkness is also responsible for negative emotions. Ugh, there is so much to learn about this darkness, so I will keep making observations until I can prove what I can see.

The darkness is only half responsible for my overwhelmed mind. The other reason is Shadow. When Shadow asked me why I chose to stay with him, I was forced to actually think about it. I remembered how seeing his pain was nearly unbearable for me, yet I didn't quite feel the same way for the others. I thought about all those times his words had hurt me and realized if he were anyone else, I would have easily and happily ignored his words. How the little compliments he would give me would make my day, and how when I discovered he harbored feelings for Amy, and any other time he showed more attention to her, I felt an unpleasant feeling in my chest.

At that point, I realized Shadow was not just a friend to me, but something more. That was also when he asked me again why I stayed with him. I couldn't tell him it was because I have more-than-friends feelings for him, so I answered him in a way that was still truthful, but also vague. I'm starting to get really good at finding loop-holes like that. I had a small suspicion of my feelings before, but I refused to acknowledge it. How can I have feelings for Shadow? I was born and raised a human, so shouldn't I be attracted to other humans? But since my discovery of my feelings, there was no more denying it. I like Shadow. It may even have the potential to become love. Maybe... he could also feel the same way about me? I give my head a hard shake. No. I can't let that happen. There is still a chance of me going back home just as abruptly as I had come here, and I would probably never be able to come back. If I were to earn Shadow's love, then break his heart with my absence, I would never be able to forgive myself. And besides, he likes Amy, not me. So I will hide my feelings for him, as he does for Amy, and I will continue to only be his friend. It's the best option I have if I want to make sure I won't greatly affect anyone when I leave.

I release a humorless laugh, earning myself some curious glances from the people I'm passing. Funny how things work. If I were to stay in this world, it would be a devastating blow to my family, and I would always miss them. If I were to go back to my world, I would be with my beloved family again, but never to be as happy as I could be in this world. Why are all these things happening to me? Did I do something to deserve this headache, this life complication?

My thoughts still a jumbled mess, I arrive and enter Shadow's house. I go inside, realize just how cold I am, and go to his room. This is the first time I have ever seen his room. It's actually pretty plain: white walls, a black queen-sized bed, cherry oak furniture and hardwood flooring. I gather some clothing for him so he can wear something other than those 'idiotic, useless, paper dresses', as he describes them. As I search for his clothing, I happen to find some paints and painting supplies. The paintings in the hallway pop in my head. Did he paint those? Feeling like he did, I decide I'll buy him some sketching pencils and a drawing pad so he can at least draw, having a broken arm and everything. Being stuck in a hospital can be very boring. Hey, on that note, I should grab myself some sketching pencils and a pad too! I go to the kitchen and make some sandwiches for lunch, and then some dinner. I put all the food into different containers and pack them into a small cooler. Thank goodness there is a microwave at the hospital. I don't want to make three trips to and from the hospital everyday just for food.

Realizing I'm still wearing my tattered dress from yesterday, I go and change into some black skinny jeans, a turquoise tank top, and a nice, thick leather jacket that I couldn't help but to buy last week. I dig out some black and turquoise snow boots that I bought not too long ago as well. Like my Vans, there are many pairs of the snow boots, and the soles, laces, and the top edges of them are also colored. It's too cold out to comfortably wear that dress right now.

Grabbing everything that I was sent to get, I go to my car, loving the warmth my jacket is now providing me. On my way to the hospital, I stop and grab Shadow and I's sketching supplies and some other crafts for me to do. Seeing it's 10:46 a.m., a little over half an hour after visiting hours began, I decide to pay my other friends a visit before dropping all this stuff off at Shadow's room.

I go and visit the unconscious Amy first. What I see makes me somber. Her head is wrapped up in bandages, her fur a shade lighter than normal, and her face has a couple of scratches and bruises. Feeling like I have to say something, I tell her unconscious form about the others' conditions, how I'd keep her posted on their recoveries, and I hope she wakes up very soon.

The next person I decide to visit is Tails. I slowly open Tails' door, incase he's asleep, and find Cream and Vanilla already there.

"Miss Amara! You're okay!" Cream squeals joyfully and gives me a tight hug. As she runs over to me, the tendrils nearest to her flee. I keep my confusion off my face and I smile, hugging her back.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Vanilla comes over and gives me a motherly hug. This causes me to remember my own mother, how her hugs always made things brighter. I hold back the tears, trying to avoid crying in front of people, and I turn my attention over to Tails. Tails has some painful looking bruises and has a good amount of bandages, but he also looks pretty good for all that he's been through. We have some small talk and I learn he'll be dismissed on the 8th, three days from now.

"Hey Amara, do you know how we got here? And what happened with Eggman?" Tails asks me. I already know what to tell him.

"I went dark after Shadow was the last one standing and had received all his injuries. Of course, Shadow being Shadow, he wouldn't stop fighting, injured or not, until both the robots were destroyed. We managed to rip the emeralds out of the robots' chests, but it was a really tiring challenge. When we finally defeated them and Eggman was making his escape, we were too tired to capture him, so we let him escape. Shadow then used the energy from the emeralds in the robots' chests to chaos control all of us here."

"Oh, I see." Tails nods, accepting my answer. I don't want anyone, other than Shadow, to know about how powerful I actually was in my dark form. I had way more dark mist than normal, and they might think me dangerous and untrustworthy because of it. I know I wouldn't be able to handle it if they treated me like a freak. Although, maybe I am. Ugh.

After I get done assuring Vanilla and Cream that I am fine, that the transformation didn't leave me traumatized, I eventually break free from Tails' room and head to Blazes room. She looks pretty good, good enough that she gets dismissed in two days, Thursday. She asks me who I've visited and how they are doing. Hearing about Amy's state, Blaze becomes full of sorrow. We talk about random things and I manage to cheer her up a little.

Next is Silver. I tell him about the friends I visited so far and I reassure him about Blaze's well-being. It was actually really cute to see him all worried about her, even though his doctor already told him her condition. I'm glad someone has a happy relationship. Silver excitedly tells me how he gets to leave this Friday too. What is it that makes guys want to leave hospitals so bad?

Next stop is Knuckles. Most of him is bandaged up, and boy does he hate that. "A stupid robot got the best of me and stuck me in this blasted place until Saturday! I can't even walk!" He continues to rant and complain like that, but because it'll help him release some steam in a calm-enough manner, I allow him to rant without interference.

I go to Rouge's room after leaving Knuckles. True to form, Rouge complains about the pain she's in and how getting discharged two days from now was too long of a wait. She asks me how the others are doing, but I can see the worry in her eyes for a certain red echidna. Deciding to give her a break this time, I tell her Knuckles' condition first. It was hard to contain my laughter when I saw her release a sigh of relief though.

Finally, time to visit the last person: Sonic. Seeing me enter his room, Sonic straitens and immediately asks me, "Have you seen Amy yet? Do you think she's going to be okay?"

"Yes, I've seen Amy. I think she'll be alright, don't worry." I reassure him. He nods, looking a little more relived.

"I just wish I can see her for myself, ya know? Instead, I'm stuck here until Monday. I can't even run for a couple of seconds!" Sonic grumbles miserably. Trying to distract him from his gloomy state, I tell him about how the others are doing, and I tell him I'll bring him a chili dog the next time I visit him. He brightens up at that. As we talk, I catch Sonic looking at me when he thinks I'm not watching. I sigh to myself internally. Looks like I'm going to have to help Sonic sort out his feelings.

"Hey Sonic, let me tell you something that I think will be really useful to you."

"Okay..." He looks at me curiously.

"When it comes to classifying what someone you like actually means to you, there are three classifications: attractive, dating material, and friends. First you have to make a list of ALL of the things you like about that person, even if it's something that you don't like admiring it to yourself. Then you divide it into two groups. One consists of the physical things you like about the person, and the other consists of the personality things you like about the person. If your physical group is a lot bigger than the personality group, then the person belongs to the attractive category, meaning you mostly like them for their looks. If your personality group is a lot bigger than the physical one, then the person belongs to the friends category, meaning you like them only as a friend. And if your physical and personality groups are or almost equal to the other, then the person belongs to the dating material category, meaning that they would make a great option for you to date. But if you hold back any of the things you like about that person when making the list, it can, and will, change the results you get. Also, time changes things, so doing this regularly would be a good idea." I stand up from the seat I've been sitting at. "You could use this for figuring out if you actually like someone, or if a friend of yours will only be a friend." I shrug my shoulders. Hint hint. "I'll see you later." I turn and leave, letting Sonic absorb what I just told him. Hopefully he'll use it.

The dark tendrils were in everyone's room, much to my dismay. Can't I be somewhere without them being there? I remember what happened with Cream earlier. Another mysterious observation to store away in my mind. All of my friends asked me what happened with Eggman and how they got to the hospital, and I told them the same thing I told Tails. They all also worried about how I was handling going dark. I told them that I'm fine with the transforming part, just not so comfortable with the amount of power that comes with it. Still the truth, but they don't know how much power I received. Now I just have to inform Shadow what I told them so he won't accidentally reveal my lie. Hopefully Shadow will not question me too hard as to why I told them that. Hopefully.

By the time I am finally finished visiting and brought everything to Shadow's room, it's nearly 2 p.m.

"About time." Shadow grumbles. He cocks an eyebrow and looks my outfit over. "Nice jacket."

"Thanks." I say dryly. Of course that would be the only thing he'd compliment me on.

"How is Rose doing?" He asks me with a hint of worry in his voice as I hand him his sandwich.

"She looks pretty beat up, but she'll get through this." I say both honestly and comfortingly, and I take my seat next to his bed. He looks at me for a second more, then looks away and slowly nods.

"Good." We eat in awkward silence. I break the silence once we are finished eating.

"I told everyone that I went dark after seeing all of them get so badly injured and when you were the last one standing. I said you refused to stop until the robots were destroyed, so both you and I managed to defeat the robots and get the emeralds out of their chests. Then we let Eggman escape because we were too tired, and you chaos controlled us here using the emeralds' energy." I tell him, twiddling my fingers and avoiding eye contact.

"Why?" I hear confusion in his voice.

"I figured it would be better that way." I state.

"Again: Why?" He ask again, with some annoyance this time. So much hoping he wouldn't question this. I finally meet his eyes.

"Well... I-I didn't want them to think of me as a dangerous threat. Because of all the extra dark mist I had, you know? They might think of me as a ... freak." My voice wavers on the word 'freak' and I begin to tear up. Shadow's gaze on me softens.

"They would not think that," He says firmly. "but if this is what you wish for them to know, then I will not stop you." I smile gratefully at him.

"Thank you." He nods in acknowledgement. I change the subject. "Did you paint those paintings in the hallway back home?" I ask.

"Yes." He says hesitantly, wondering what I'm up to.

"They're very beautiful." I compliment him, not making a big deal out of his artistic talent because I know he'll hate that. I stand and go grab some supplies I bought earlier. "I had a feeling you painted them, so I bought you some sketching pencils and a sketching pad. I figured it would be easier to use this rather than painting and that it would have a similar effect as painting does." I hand him the sketching materials, nervous about what he'll think of them. He observes the pad and pencils for a couple moments, then he does a short nod in satisfaction.

"This was thoughtful of you. Thank you Amara." He suddenly shoots a glare at me. "But now that you know, do not tell any of the others about my paintings. That is a secret I wish to be only between us."

"Okay." I smile casually, hiding my joy of finding something he will actually use, maybe even enjoy. Man, if doing something this simple for him makes me this happy, I might be in trouble. I can feel I've finally earned more of his trust, a result from saving his life, which also means we might get a little closer in our friendship. I liked him before all this happened, so will I be strong enough to keep my feelings hidden as we get closer? I'm going to have to be, otherwise I will move out and cut my ties with him. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure my absence won't change his life for the worse. For my Shadykins.

**Review please!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Later this week I'm going on a band trip to Oregon, so I might not update next weekend. I'll try though!**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic crew belongs to Sega. The Host belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

**Amara's P.O.V.**

I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock beeping. I open my eyes and see the dark tendrils are still here. No harm in hoping. Slapping off my alarm clock, I groan and heave myself out of my cozy bed. It's too early for this crap. Shadow decided to be a jerk and asked to have breakfast every morning at 7, meaning I have to get up at 6 a.m. just to prepare all the food. I'd tell him too bad and that he'll eat later, but I feel kinda guilty for being the only one not hospitalized. So here I am, at 6 o'clock in the morning, making his food for the day. At least I only have to do this for six more days.

When all the food is finished cooking and is packed, I grab some clothes for me to change into later since I'm too tired to change right now, and I head to the hospital. I sign in and go into Shadow's room, 7 o'clock on the dot. He's still asleep when I open the door, so I loudly shut it. His eyes calmly open and he glares at me.

"Was that necessary?"

"Yup. If I have to be up, then you do too."

"You did not wake me up. I do not sleep. I let my body rest while my mind stays alert." He states while I hand him his breakfast.

"Figures." I roll my eyes and I take off my coat, drawing his attention to my pink and dark blue plaid pajama pants and my dark blue spaghetti-strap top

"Why are you still in your pajamas?"

"I plan on getting the rest of my sleep." I tell him. I walk over to the foot of his bed and I snatch the blanket he never uses. Then I go over to my chair and make myself comfortable.

"This is seriously too early for you?" He asks me, unimpressed.

"The only time I get up this early is for school, and seeing I don't have to go to school in this world, I shouldn't have to get up this early. See you in a few hours." For the first time, I end my conversation with Shadow first, and I close my eyes.

What feels like a few minutes later, I hear the door open and someone coming in. I open my eyes and first look at the clock. It's already 10!

"Hello Shadow. I'm Doctor Phillips, your new doctor. Doctor Davis has become too busy now to continue to tend to you." That was the last doctor's name? I should really pay attention. I look at this new doctor. He is a young white tiger with nice hazel eyes. Now awake, I sit up in my chair and rub my eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to awaken you." He says to me apologetically.

"It's alright. It was time for me to wake up anyway." I assure him.

"So you must be Amara." He smiles at me.

"Yes. Nice to meet you Doctor Phillips." I greet him.

"You can call me Cody." He says, still smiling. He suddenly gets awkward. "Uh, if you'd like, that is."

"Okay, Cody." I chuckle. Shadow clears his throat.

"Well? Are you going to stand there and talk all day?"

"Shadow." I send him a glare.

"Oh, sorry! I'll do your check up now." Cody turns into a doctor again and does Shadow's daily check up.

"Well, you're healing very well." He says once he's done checking Shadow. "As long as you don't try to do things you aren't quite ready for, you'll definitely be out of here this Tuesday."

"Hmph." Is all Shadow says. I have a feeling he isn't too fond of Cody.

"Thank you Cody." I smile gratefully at him, making up for Shadow's rudeness.

"No problem." He smiles back at me. He turns and leaves the room. I turn my attention to Shadow.

"What's your problem? He didn't do anything to you."

"He wasted my time by standing there, and it is unprofessional to seek a female's attention when working." He says, glaring at me the whole time.

"What? He wasn't flirting with me or anything! He was just being nice!" I stand before he can reply. "I'm going to get dressed for the day." I grab my clothes and go to the room's bathroom, not giving Shadow a chance to speak. I just woke up and I am not ready to deal with Shadow's attitude. I need a few minutes. Taking my time, I get ready and am done in fifteen minutes.

"All you had to do was get dressed? It should have taken you around five minutes instead of fifteen." Shadow grumbles once I'm out of the bathroom.

"I had to mentally prepare myself too you know. You're no ray of sunshine." I smirk. He rolls his eyes and continues reading one of his books I brought from home. I eagerly pull out my book, The Host, and begin reading. It was my first personal book in my last world, so why not in this one too? Shadow sees the big book and raises his eyebrow.

"You are going to read that? That will take you at least two weeks."

It's my turn to cock my eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just stating the obvious."

"I'll have you know, I've read this before, and it only took me three days." I smugly say. A flash of surprise crosses his face. "What? Didn't expect me to be a book worm? Well, I am. Get me an interesting book and you won't see much of me until I finish it."

"Good to know." He smirks. I give him a look and continue reading my book. And so we sit there, silently reading, until noon. Then we take a break for lunch.

"I'm going to visit the others. Any messages you want me to pass along?" I ask, putting away the now-empty containers.

"Actually yes. Tell them that Tikal has talked to me in a dream and has asked that we all go visit the Master Emerald once we are all healed. She has some vital information that we need to hear."

"Oh. Okay. Got it." I twiddle my fingers. "Does this message, uh, include me being there as well?" I'm not officially a part of this group, so it doesn't hurt to ask.

He cocks an eyebrow. "Of course."

"Oh, cool." I wasn't really expecting that. "Well, I'll go pass that along then." I turn and grab a certain food container to warm up, and I leave. I'll visit Sonic first, see how he's doing.

I knock on Sonic's door and I hear, "Come on in!" I open the door. "Hey Amara! How's it goin'?"

"Hey Sonic. It's going good." I open the container in my hands. "I brought your chili dogs!" I say in a sing-songy voice.

"Yes!" Smiling, I hand the four chili dogs over and he begins to scarf them down. While he eats, I tell him about Tikal's request.

"Huh" I wonder what's goin' on now." He says with an adventurous look on his face. I roll my eyes, and shake my head. "Hey, Amara." Alarmed by the sudden seriousness in Sonic's voice, I look back at him. "I want to apologize for earlier. I've been thinkin' about what you told me yesterday and I realized we don't really know each other that well." He turns sheepish and a little nervous. "You're p-pretty, and I guess I didn't realize how shallow I was being. But I know now and, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to get to know you and just be your friend."

I smile warmly at him. "Of course I wouldn't mind, that's all I wanted."

He breathes out a sigh of relief. "Well that's good. I was kinda worried I scared you off or something."

"I deal with Shadow. I'm not easily scared off." I chuckle. Sonic laughs.

"True." He suddenly gets nervous again. "I've got a question for ya."

"Okay...?"

"Let's say that I used that technique from yesterday on someone else, and the results are 15 physical likes and 20 personality likes. Does that classify as a friend? Or...?"

"Well, the gap is big enough for the person to possibly be in the friend category, but I think they are most likely in the dating material group."

"Oh," Sonic's face starts to turn a light red. Is he blushing? "thanks."

"Sure Sonic, anytime. And just so you know, I'm here for you. I can keep others' secrets like no other." I smile reassuringly at him. He smiles back.

"Okay." I drop the subject and we chit chat. Ten minutes later, I leave Sonic's room and go visit the rest of the crew. It's only been a day and they are already looking much better, other than the still-unconscious Amy. I pass Shadow's message along to all of them, no one having a clue of what it could be about, other than being something dangerous to the world.

By the time I get back to Shadow's room, it's 4 pm. Ready to relax, I sit in my chair and stretch, groaning and sighing as I do so. Shadow ignores my noise and continues to sketch in his sketching pad. For the first time ever, I feel like talking when it would be easier for me just to read. Maybe Shadow won't bite my head off for trying to talk to him.

"So... what's your favorite color?" He pauses in his sketching and looks at me, trying to see if I just seriously asked him that. I keep a straight face and wait for an answer. Casting one last confused glance at me, he answers.

"Forest green." He answered! Let's make sure this wasn't a fluke.

"Do you prefer daytime or nighttime? Why?"

"Night. I like the stars. What about you?"

"Same. I like the stars too." Let the questioning begin.

**XXXXX**

It's Friday afternoon, and me and Shadow are still asking each other random questions. I've learned some things about Shadow: he likes the outdoors, watches mystery shows when forced to watch TV, he likes caramel sweets, and a bunch of other things. I expected this questioning to have ended Wednesday night, but it's been so long since Shadow has really opened up to someone that I think he wants to answer as many of these questions as he dares. That, or I'm just making a huge deal out of something he probably already did with Amy. I probably don't want to know.

Blaze, Rouge, Silver, and Tails are all now discharged from the hospital and are happy about it. Amy still hasn't woken up, and I know it's eating away at everyone, especially Shadow. Shadow still hasn't warmed up to Cody. I still see the tendrils, making me think there is no going back now, and I've finished The Host. I had a lot of fun rubbing that in Shadow's face.

"Do you like caramel apples?" I ask Shadow.

"I do not know. I have never had one."

"You've never had a caramel apple?!" I gape incredulously. "I LOVE caramel apples! They are... they are mon amour!" I get lost in my thoughts about the delicious treat.

"'Mon amour'? What does that mean?" He asks, bringing me back to reality.

"Oh. 'Mon amour' is from a different language back on my world. The language is called French and it means 'my love'. I always thought saying my love regularly was really cheesy, so I decided to say it in a different language." I shrug.

"Hmm." Suddenly, the door flings open and Rogue comes running in.

"Guys!" She pants. "Amy's awake!"

**Review please! You know you want to! ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**I found time! :D**

**Sonamylover6822- Sorry but I'm going to be one of those people: you're just going to have to wait and see! :)**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic crew belongs to Sega.**

**Shadow's P.O.V.**

"When?" Amara asks Rouge, both shocked and overjoyed.

"A little over five minutes ago. I figured you'd want to know as soon as possible." Rouge answers, still panting.

"Thanks Rouge." Amara stands and goes to follow Rouge out. She stops at the doorway and knowingly looks back at me. "I'll get all the details I can. Just. Stay. Here. I'll be back soon." With that said, she turns and leaves.

Rose just woke up after four days of unconsciousness and I am expected to stay here? I think not. I sit up and remove all the wiring and tubes from me and, with more difficultly than I expected, I prop myself on the edge of the bed. If I had struggled this much with something this simple, there is no way I can walk all the way to Rose's room. I grab one of the chaos emeralds from within my quills, since I am not quite strong enough to transport on my own at the moment.

"Chaos control!" The yellow glow of the emerald surrounds me and I am transported right inside Rose's room. I am standing on my good leg and ended up right next to Amara.

"Gah!" Amara jumps from my sudden appearance. Tails, Silver, Blaze, and Rouge all jump from her outburst. "Shadow?! Didn't I tell you to stay put?!"

Ignoring all the surprised looks I am receiving, I glare at Amara. "Your fault for thinking you could tell me to do anything." She sighs heavily and face-palms.

"Ugh. Since you're here you might as well say hi." She grumbles. She walks to my left side and takes my arm, wrapping it around her shoulders so she can help me walk over to Rose's bed. I ignore the uncomfortable feeling I get as she does this and observe Rose.

Rose has bandages wrapped around her head and her bruises are fading. Her smile is as bright as ever though. "Oh Shadow! You didn't have to drag yourself down here while you're still hurt! Come and sit down." She chastises me and motions to the foot of her bed.

"I did not drag myself." I mutter as I sit on the bed, not appreciating how everyone seems to think they can tell me what I should and should not do now.

She giggles. "Okay. Whatever you say Shadow." I roll my eyes and change the subject.

"How are you feeling, Rose?" Her smile dims.

"I feel fine. I'm just having troubles wrapping my head around the fact that I was in a mini coma for three days." She says, her face becoming troubled.

"Hey, you're awake now and that's all that matters." Silver says comfortingly to Amy. She flashes him an appreciative smile just as the door opens to let in my new doctor, Cream, and Vanilla.

"Oh Amy! You're awake!" Cream shouts joyfully and hurls herself into Rose's arms, still managing to be gentle.

"Of course I am silly!" Rose smiles fondly at the young rabbit. "I could never leave you guys this soon!"

"It's good to see you awake Amy. My name is Dr. Phillips, your doctor." His eyes fall on me. "I'm also yours, Shadow, and I don't remember saying you could get out of bed." He tries giving me a stern look, but all it does is annoy me more. I give him one of my faker-glares. His eyes widen and he takes a step back.

"Shadow." Amara groans, annoyed. She smiles apologetically at the young doctor. "Just ignore him Cody. That's what I do when he's like this. He won't hurt you, I'll make sure of it." She says the last part threateningly and directed at me. Like she can do anything that will stop me.

"O-okay." He clears his throat and walks over to Rose's bedside. "Let's check you over, shall we?" As he examines her he takes notes on is clipboard.

"Well," He says when he is done. "you have healed quite nicely. Nice enough that you could probably walk out of here now, but because you just woke up, you are going to stay another night here, just to make sure that you are truly okay.

"That's alright with me." Rose smiles at him. "Thank you doctor Phillips."

"You are quite welcome." He smiles at her and heads to the door. As he nears Amara, he stops and looks at her. "See you tomorrow Amara."

"See you tomorrow Cody." She smiles politely at him. He continues his way out of the room.

Once he is out of the room, Rouge whirls towards Amara wearing a sly grin. "Well well well. I think some one like yoooooouuuuu!"

"He does not! He's just being friendly since I'm the only one who is nice to him during Shadow's checkups." Is she blushing?

"Suuuure." Rouge smirks.

Having enough about all this talk about some guy, I snap at both of the females.

"How about you talk about something that is actually important? Or even talk to Rose?"

"Yeesh. Someone is really cranky." Rouge says while looking at me with an arched eyebrow.

"Anything new?" Amara shrugs indifferently. That earns a couple of snickers. Biting back some comments, I focus back on Rose... who is also snickering as well. That is it. I am done dealing with people today. Satisfied that Rose will be okay, I take out the chaos emerald again.

"Chaos control!" Now back on my hospital bed, I release a growl of frustration. This is why I do not socialize with people. I do not like having to deal with their ignorance and I do not enjoy being made a fool of like that. All of my usual techniques that I use to prevent that from happening do not work on Amara, making it much more frustrating. Also, all this talk about Cody is really starting to annoy me. I think he is a boy with a man's job. He should not be looking for Amara's attention while he is with another patient, like he always does. I hate hospitals.

When Amara gets back, it's near 6 p.m., and I am still stymied. Sensing my dark mood, Amara quietly takes her seat and looks around the room again.

"What are you looking at? There is nothing new to look at." I half growl and snap. She gives me a blank look.

"Shadow, stop. This attitude of yours is not going to do anything for you." At the end of my tolerance, something in me snaps. All of my pent up anger surfaces, and I turn dark. Amara watches, wide-eyed, as I lunge towards her and wrap my hand around her throat.

"Do not tell me what to do." I hiss at her. She looks back at me, eyes filled with fear, and she lets out a strangled gasp. That jolts some sense back into me and I realize what I am doing. Immediately I let go of her and I turn back to normal. She coughs and takes deep, ragged breaths. I cover my face with my left hand. Who am I kidding? I cannot deal with other people. I am not meant to live with them, let alone protect them. I just nearly choked Amara just because she told me to lose my attitude!

As I begin to mentally fall apart, I feel her hand on my shoulder. "Shadow?" She whispers, voice still hoarse.

"Get away!" I growl at her. She flinches back. "I am not safe to be around." I say, defeated, and I slump back into my hand. I am sorry Maria, but I cannot fulfill your wish.

I hear Amara's foot steps go towards the door. Good, no one should be near me. Instead of hearing the door open, however, I hear a chair scrape and a thunk against the door. She walks back over to me and plops down on the left side of the bed, right next to me.

"Shadow." She says stern, barely any hoarseness in her voice. I do not look at her. She sighs and places her hand on my shoulder. "Shadow, it's okay. It's not really your fault. You just had too much anger built up. It was bound to explode at some point. Be glad you could control it enough to stop yourself from doing some serious damage to someone."

"So choking you was not serious?" I ask, voice cold and bitter.

"I never said it wasn't. I said serious damage. I'm fine now, am I not?"

"I have probably mentally scarred you though, turning dark on you like that." I say, still bitter. "I saw the fear in your eyes."

"Yes, I was scared, but I was scared about the outcome, not for my life. I was scared about what would've happened to you after you realized what you did, what the other would've done when they realized." She wraps her right arm around my shoulder, placing her hand on my head, and grabs my torso with her left arm. Then she lays back on the bed, bringing me down with her, and she places my head where her neck and shoulder meets.

She continues, "You are a good person, Shadow, but you also struggle with your darker side more than others do. You are not perfect, Ultimate Lifeform or not. You will slip up. What counts is how you deal with your mistake; whether or not you see it as inspiration to better yourself, or you see it and run continually from it." I try to sit up, but she keeps a strong hold of me, refusing to let me even lift my head. Maria used to hold me like this when I was younger. With no will left, I give up and stay in Amara's arms, beginning to feel like a vulnerable little hedgehog again. "So, what are you going to do Shadow? Are you going to accept that I forgive you and see this as inspiration to better yourself, or are you going to run from it, stopping yourself from doing the great things that I know you can do?"

I think about her words, the honesty and care I hear in them. I could leave everyone behind, live my life alone and not a threat, or I can move past this and continue to fulfill Maria's last request. I also think about how I will disappoint Amara if I leave. After all the things I have put her through, Amara has not looked at me with complete and utter disappointment. She has been nothing but open-minded with me while everyone else makes at least one of their judgements before they can truly understand, even Rose. Since Maria, Amara is the closest one to be able to understand me. She does not understand as much as Maria did, but she is closer than I ever thought possible.

After who knows how long, I answer. "The Ultimate Lifeform does not run from anything."

I feel her face move into a smile. "That's my Shadykins." I frown. Feeling me frown on her shoulder, she laughs. Now that my thoughts are clearer, I realize how tired I am, both mentally and physically. Amara begins to hum an unfamiliar song. I close my eyes and I listen to the soft, flowing notes.

**XXXXX**

I wake up to find the morning sun shining through the window. I go to stretch my good limbs, but I suddenly feel a body right next to me. Then I remember yesterday. I fell asleep? I did not have a single nightmare or dream. That has not happened since my time with Maria.

I look at the sleeping magenta hedgehog, who's arms I am no longer in. Instead, I have my left arm around her waist and her head resting on my shoulder. I decide to let her sleep. I can do at least that much for her. I will always feel guilty for what I did to her, but I will do as she says and see it as another reason to stop the evils of this world. If I am capable of that kind of treatment, then they are capable of much worse.

The rest of the day passes by almost normally. Rose stopped by after being discharged and visited everyone else still hospitalized. She came bursting into the room and proudly claimed that she told Faker she is ready to let him go and be friends. I can see the difference in her eyes, she is not so obsessed with him now, but I can still see some feelings for him. Nonetheless, it is the closest she has ever come in lessening her feelings for the blue hedgehog. Amara seemed to have been slightly troubled with Rose's announcement though. She told me she is not quite sure how she should react, which is understandable. Rose can easily go right back to being crazy for Faker again.

Amara and I's relationship has not really changed since yesterday, but there is a certain understanding between us. We also know more about the other, a result from all the questions that was asked. No more ignoring it, we are friends. Not 'best friends' or 'buddy-buddy' friends, but the kind who will have each other's back when needed. I have finally admitted to myself that I need help when it comes dealing with my emotions, that I do not know how to deal with them by myself. So Amara will be there when I need help with untangling of my emotions, and I will be there whenever she needs to be reminded that she is not alone.

It is nearing 8 p.m., the end of visiting hours, and Amara and I are reading our books. Amara looks up from her book and looks at me. "Hey Shadow, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"I was wondering, why don't you want to win Amy over? I know you still like her." I guess I should have expected this to come up sooner or later. Since she knows about my harbored feelings, she might as well know why.

"Because she deserves someone better, someone who will not drag down her moods because of his own, and someone who can make her completely happy. I can do none of those things for her, so I will not chase her. I can at least make sure that the guys she will eventually chose will be good enough for her."

"Oh." Amara stays silent for a couple seconds. "Sorry."

"Do not be. I am fairly sure you would have found a way to figure it out anyway." I smirk over at her. She chuckles, knowing she cannot deny it. Rose suddenly enters my room.

"Hey guys! I thought I'd come and say goodbye." She looks over at Amara. "I sure wish I could stay whenever I want like you though! I feel kind of guilty that I get to leave while some of my friends are still hospitalized." Rose's ears slightly lower, a small frown appearing.

I go to comfort Rose, but Amara speaks up first. "You can take my place if you really want Amy. I don't mind. I can still visit during visiting hours. Of course, you'll have to make sure Shadow is okay with it, since he's the reason I can be here."

"Really? That's really nice of you Amara!" Rose looks over at me. "What do you think Shadow? Are you okay with this?"

I shrug indifferently. "Fine. If that is what you want, then go ahead."

"Yay! Thank you Shadow!" She runs over to me and gives me one of her infamously-tight hugs.

"Yeah." I say, trying to get her off of me.

"Well, I better head home then." Amara stands and begins to gather her things.

"You can stay tonight Amara, and we can start the switch tomorrow morning." Rose offers.

"No, I've had enough time staying in this hospital and keeping him company." Amara smirks. "It's your turn."

"Well, if your sure." Rose shrugs. Amara nods and smiles.

"See you tomorrow Amy and Shadykins!" She grins and leaves. I roll my eyes. That stupid name.

"It's so funny how she isn't afraid of you. I bet she gets a kick out of it. I know Sonic definitely would. You should have seen his face when I told him I wanted to be his friend! He was so surprised, he-" On and on she talked until the later hours of the night, telling me everything that was on her mind. Did she always talk this much?

**Review please!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Amara's P.O.V. **

"Thank you Mrs. Bindor." I say after signing in.

"Your welcome dear." The possum receptionist smiles at me.

It's 10 a.m. Monday. One more day before Shadow is discharged and I don't have to visit here anymore. I step out of the elevator and onto the floor Shadow is on, when Cody suddenly rounds the corner and spots me.

"Good morning Amara." He greets once he walks over to me.

"Good morning Cody." I smile.

"So, you pretty happy Shadow gets out tomorrow?"

"Yeah, making all these trips can get pretty old."

"I bet." His smile becomes nervous and his fingers start to tap on his clipboard. "Hey, if you are not doing anything Thursday night, I was wondering if you would like to go to dinner with me?"

"Oh." I say, surprised. I guess he does like me, for Thursday is Valentines Day.

"It's okay if you don't want to go though. I understand." Disappointment already starts to show on his face. He begins to turn away.

"Wait." He turns back to me. Cody is a nice guy. I'd love to get to know him more, and, regardless of him being almost five years older than me, he is actually pretty cute too. What the heck, why not? "I'm free. So yes, I would love to go to dinner." His face brightens.

"Great!" I give him my number and my address. "I'll pick you up at 7 o'clock?"

"Sounds great." I smile. We part and I go to Shadow's room. This will be my first official date. This realization brings a giddy smile to my face as I open Shadow's door.

"-when I get back home!" Shadow growls at the scared nurse.

"I-I'm sorry b-but I can't let you do that." She meekly says. My smile falls. Here we go.

"Do what?" I ask, stepping through the door.

"They are trying to make me take a bath again." Shadow spits out. "I leave tomorrow, I will wash when I get home!" He directs the last part again at the nurse. Now I see why he's upset. He hates that they have to help him take his baths. He knows he needs it, but he'll never admit it.

"We have rules, and taking a bath after two days is one of them. We need to prevent illnesses being spread around, and taking baths do just that." The nurse says, gaining a little more confidence. Probably because she thinks he won't kill her if I'm here to witness.

"She's just doing her job Shadow." I try to ease him. "You can complain to Dr. Davis afterwards. And besides, the baths are not so bad. You still get to keep your boxers on." I smirk at him. He glares at me. Then a flash of triumph crosses his eyes.

"Okay. I will take a bath only if YOU help me."

My eyes widen in surprise. "Me?" He nods and smirks.

"But if you do not want to, then I will not take a bath." That's why he looks so smug. If I didn't have my father's stubbornness, I'd let Shadow win. But I do.

"Fine." Shock shows on his face. "I'll get the water running." I turn to the nurse. "This is the best you're going to get out of him."

"Oh that's okay! He just needs to take one." She says, extremely relieved, and she quickly leaves the room. I go to the bathroom to start the bath. I can't believe I'm doing this.

**XXXXX**

So... that was pretty awkward. It wasn't so bad at first, neither of us spoke while he bathed, and I had to only help him with his quills and back. I could see how uncomfortable he was. I was tempted to point out that he could have told me no, but I knew what he would've said: I am a man of my word. So, I let him be. It was after he was dressed and back in bed that got really awkward. It has been silent for a good ten minutes now and he's obviously not going to break it.

"So... What's Amy up to?" I ask.

"Helping Faker get settled." He answers monotoned. Oh yeah, he got discharged today. I bet he's thrilled.

"That's nice of her." I say, knowing it's a little more than her being nice. I will give her credit though, she really is making an effort to lose feelings for Sonic, but also maintain a friendship. She just slips up every now and then.

"Sure." Shadow states indifferently.

"Hey, she stayed with you most of yesterday." I point out. "She could have spent most of the day with Sonic instead."

"I know that," He snaps at me, finally snapping out of whatever funk he was in. "but she should keep some distance from him if she wants it to be easier for her to lose interest in him."

"It's not that easy. You can't just stop seeing someone that you see almost everyday cold turkey. It won't do you any good. Easing off the person is the best way to lose the feelings and keep a friendship."

"How would you know that? You said you never had a boyfriend."

"I haven't. But that doesn't mean I've never had interests though."

"Hmph." Suddenly the door flings open and the pink female herself bursts in.

"I came as soon as I heard!" She pants.

"Heard what?" Shadow asks her. Amy sends an accusing glare at me.

"Why didn't you tell me you made a date for Valentines night?!" How'd she know?

"I... uh..." I shrug, not sure what to say.

"Wait, what?" Shadow asks, bewilderment in his eyes.

"I was on my way back here from Sonic's, when Cody stopped me and asked me where I thought he should take her for their date Thursday evening!" Amy exclaims. A couple tendrils dissolves into Shadow.

"That guy? You are going to dinner with him?" He sneers. At least Rouge isn't here to add to this mess.

"I'm here!" Rouge now enters the room, panting. What is this? "Now I just want to know why I wasn't informed by Amara herself now."

I throw up my arms. "Would you guys stop it?! It's just dinner! It's not like he asked me to marry him!"

"Could you imagine? Amara Phillips." I groan loudly and bury my face in my hands as Rouge and Amy giggle. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"Don't worry Amara, we'll help you get ready." Rouge says. My head shoots up.

"No! Just let me handle this on my own." Hurt flashes across both their faces. Aww, jeez. "I'm sorry," I say guiltily. "but you guys are blowing this WAY out of proportion. It's just a simple dinner. That's it."

"We're sorry too." Amy grins sheepishly. "We're just so excited for you though! This is the first time you've shown any interest in a guy!"

"We'll back off, but we are still going to help you get ready." Rouge states stubbornly.

"Fine." I sigh and cover my face with my right hand. Friends, what can you do?

"Oh! We should buy her a dress!" Amy squeals. Rouge's face brightens. Oh lord.

"How about you guys pick it for me? It'll be a nice surprise." I plaster a smile on my face, really hoping I don't have to go. Luckily, their excitement sweeps them away.

"Ooo, great idea! We should go now! And we can get her some shoes and jewelry-" Amy checks the time. "We should get started now before all the good stores close!" Rouge and Amy are out the door a second later. It's only 11 a.m. How much time do could they possibly need to shop for an outfit?!

"Oh boy." I groan to myself. I remember Shadow is in the room as well. I look up at his scowling face.

"I am guessing that is why you walked in here with that girly smile of yours earlier." He says coldly.

"Yeah." I'm so over this. "And I know, I know: you don't like him, why am I choosing to go to dinner with him, ect. Well, he's a nice guy, and I'm not going to take your attitude right now. Incase you haven't noticed, I just sent Rouge and Amy to pick my outfit." I bury my face back in my hands. "And it'll be my first date. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to do!" A few moments of silence pass.

"Treat it like you said: just dinner." Shadow says, softer.

I keep my face buried. "Knowing me, I'll probably screw it up."

"You will be fine. You can handle many things others would definitely struggle with." He says. Feeling a little better, I slightly lift my face from my hands and look at him. "That being said, I have something I need you to do."

I raise my head. "What is it?"

"It is not safe keeping both of these emeralds in my quills like this. I need you to go to Tails's garage and put one in the safe. I will keep the other incase something should come up. When you enter the garage, in the far left corner, a trap door is in the floor. Open it and you will see the vault we keep the emeralds in. Enter the code 26204 and put it n." Oh, wow. This is a big responsibility, especially when it comes from Shadow.

"Okay." He hands me the yellow emerald.

"Be careful." He warns. I nod. I put the emerald in my purse and I check my phone. I see I have a text message from Tails. What is it with mentioning people and them popping up in some way right after the conversation today? I look at the message.

"Tails says the whole gang is getting together for lunch tomorrow to celebrate everyone being out of the hospital." I inform Shadow.

"Of course they are." He grumbles. I smirk.

"See you later Shadykins." I turn and waste no time getting to Tails's.

**XXXXX**

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

"Look who's out of the hospital!" Faker shouts from the restaurant table as Rose and I approach, Rose wheeling me in my wheel chair. I have to be in this thing for a week, but I will take that, over being in that hospital longer, any day.

"You?" I arch an eyebrow. Rose giggles.

Faker rolls his eyes. "Nice to see you too Shads." I glare at him.

"Well, everyone's here. Now, let's order. I'm starving!" Silver opens his menu. Amara chuckles, then she stops, realizing it drew attention to herself.

"So, you excited for your date tomorrow night?" Rouge leans forward expectantly. My mood sours. Of all the guys she could have chosen...

"Uh, sure? He's a nice guy."

"Not the reaction I'm looking for girl." Rouge shakes her head disappointed. "It's valentines day tomorrow and you have a date! Not all of use get so lucky." She sighs dramatically.

"Wait until you see what we got you though!" Rose claps excitedly.

Amara smiles appreciatively. "I'm sure it'll be-"

"Oh no!" Tails suddenly shoots up, looking at his wrist device, horrified.

"What is it?" Faker is on his feet as well, taking a fighting stance.

"The vault! Someone just accessed it and took out all the emeralds!"

"Let's go check it out then!" Faker says. Before he can zoom off though, Bokkun comes flying in the restaurant.

"Message for ya from the Doctor!" He pulls out the infamous screen and plays it.

"Ho ho ho! Don't bother in looking for those emeralds! They are mine now." The Doctor grins triumphantly.

"How did you find them?" Tails asks him, surprised that the doctor was able to find and open the vault.

"Ah, the perks of having a spy." Spy? "But now that I have what I need, you can come back to the base Amara. Your presence there is no longer needed." ...What?

Amara's eyes widen in shock. "Oh, did I blow your cover?" He grins evilly. "You poor rodents. How devastating it must be to be betrayed by one of your own! Ho ho ho!" The screen goes black.

"_Self destruct in 3...2...1_" Frozen in shock, none of us move as black smoke engulfs us. A spy?

"I told her the code yesterday..." I whisper, anger beginning to boil inside me.

"I'm not his spy!" Amara looks around at us frantically, her gaze met only with hurt and hard glares. "I swear!"

"Why would he tell you to go back to the base then?" Knuckles growls.

"I don't know!" Her eyes begin to water. "But he's lying!"

"You did good." I say in the most threatening voice I can muster. "You gained all our trust, even mine. If you expect to escape my wrath though, I suggest you start now."

"Shadow, please! I-" Some of the Doctor's robots enter the restaurant.

"The Doctor isn't a patient guy. We need to go, now." Bokkun says impatiently. One of the robots grab Amara and throws her over its shoulder.

"No! Please! I'm not lying! Please believe me!" She shouts out to us, tears falling down her face as the robots take her away. Disgusted, I turn away.

"Humans." I growl. "They are all the same: cruel, liars, and heartless."

**Oh snap! Review and share your thoughts!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Christian Ape99****\- Sorry, but no, your characters are not going to make another appearance. I might mention them though. **

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega.**

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

"So... what do we do about Eggman?" Silver asks once he's done with his sandwich.

We are at Rose's house now. The media swarmed all over us after Bokkun's visit, so we left the restaurant as quick as we could and met back up here for lunch.

"I don't think there's anything we can do." Tails answers. "We are still injured from last time. I think we're just going to have to guard our last emerald and wait for Eggman's next move." Silence comes after that.

"I..." Faker starts. "I just can't believe it." Tension suddenly fills the room.

"Sonic, you heard what Eggman said. You don't just go up to random people and claim they are your spy." Blaze tells him.

"Maybe he did though." He argues. "We've known her for a month now, and I don't know about you guys, but not once have I noticed any kind of clue to her being a spy."

"People can be good at pretending, Faker." I say.

"I don't know, I just... ugh." He buries his head in his hands. "Something just isn't sitting well with me." He mutters through his hands. The others try to console Faker, and I stop listening.

All this is doing is frustrating me. I lived with her, and yet I never saw this coming. No one ever saw this coming... hmm... maybe Faker is onto something. Usually there is at least some sort of clue, even if it is small.

I notice the vase of sunflowers from my hospital room on Rose's coffee table. The hospital made me take them, saying someone gave the sunflowers as a get-well gift to me. Not caring who gave them to me, I let Rose keep the flowers. Now that I think about it though, the flowers look the same as they did my first day in the hospital. They should be showing signs of wilting by now.

I lean over and grab one of the sun flowers. It feels realistic, but not completely real. I snap the stem, and find it is just a hollow stick.

"Hey! What are you doing to my flowers Shadow?" Rose exclaims, obviously already attached to the flowers. I ignore her and continue my investigation. I pick off a couple petals and find they are made of a soft rubber-plastic material. I split open the center of the flower and find wires laced throughout it. And right in the middle of it all, is a microphone.

Oh no.

"Shadow? Are you okay?" Rose asks, voice now full of worry. I realize I am clutching the wheelchair arm. I release my grip and wordlessly hand the devise over to Tails.

"Uh oh." He says weakly once he realizes what it is.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Sonic demands.

"We were wrong." Tails says ashamed. He holds up the fake sun flower. "This 'flower' has a microphone inside, and this was inside of Shadow's hospital room."

"Meaning the doctor heard me tell her the code and location." I utter lowly.

"Oh no." Rose gasps, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Why would Eggman kidnap her if she wasn't his spy then?" Knuckles asks.

"He was able to listen to everything that was said in my room." Including when I nearly choked her. "He knew I had the last chaos emerald. Amara spent a lot of time in my room, so I think he figured that if he got ahold of her, then I would exchange the last emerald." The tension breaks once her name is finally spoken and is replaced with guilt and worry.

"We need to go save her then!" Faker shoots up.

"But we're still injured Sonic! Eggman probably has her locked up somewhere tricky. How can we save her?"

I speak up. "The doctor has six chaos emeralds and I have the last one. If we manage to get all of them in the same room and keep the last one from his possession, then Faker, Knuckles, Silver and I can turn super. Then we will be healed, be able to save Amara, and stop the doctor from whatever he is planning as well." As annoying as they are, missions like this have been easier since Knuckles and Silver managed to learn to turn super a few years ago.

"You know the rest of us are coming with you four, right?" Rose crosses her arms. Faker starts to object.

"But Amy, it's too-"

"Yes, just stay out of harms way." I interrupt. We need to get going, now. Faker glares at me, but I ignore it.

"What happens if there's more of those Robo-chaos guys?" Silver asks.

"Then we try to avoid them and get Amara out of there. Eggman has changed. There is no telling what he is doing to her now." I pull out the green chaos emerald. "I can transport us to the outside of his base. Are you all ready?" They look at each other and nod. "Chaos control!"

**XXXXX**

**Amara's P.O.V. **

I wake up and find myself in a pitch-black room. "Ugh." I groan from my aching head and sit up. Where am I? My last thoughts slam back into my memory.

They don't believe me.

Tears begin to pool in my eyes. After all we went through, they took Eggman's word over mine. I begin to get angry. Eggman is a pest. I groggily stand up.

"Agh!" Electricity zaps me once I do and I'm back on the floor.

"Ah! You're awake!" Eggman chuckles, his voice sounding like it's coming from some kind of speaker. Hearing his voice makes my blood boil, and I shoot up. Again, I am electrocuted back down.

"Tsk tsk, foolish girl. You see, I know you posses some kind of power when you get mad, so, to prevent you from activating it, I have put that electric collar around your neck. It will electrocute you and keep you weak. You will barely have enough energy to sit up, as I'm sure you've noticed."

"What do you want?" I growl, then whimper from another shock.

"I've been keeping an eye on you and your friends, and I've noticed that you and Shadow have grown quite close. If I threaten your life, then Shadow would surely hand over the last emerald. Then me and my Robo-chaos robots can take over the world!"

"Shadow and I? Close? Ha. In case you haven't noticed, he and everybody else -gah- believed you over me." I say weakly, but bitterly.

"I've noticed. Poor you." Eggman chuckles darkly. A loud bang sounds from the speaker.

"Well! Look whose here! And you've activated your super powers! How nice. What can I help you with?" Eggman greets someone else.

"I am not going to hand this emerald over until I see her Robotnik." I hear what I recognize to be Shadow, growl.

"You always go straight to the point. That's no fun." I hear Eggman pout. "Very well."

Suddenly, the floor under me opens up and I fall into a cage. The bars are made of high volts of electricity. What is it with him and electricity right now? The cage moves through dark tunnels within the base. I see if I can call the darkness to me, but I just get shocked again.

Eventually the cage stops in what looks like Eggman's workroom. Eggman is standing in front of seven Robo-chaos robots, six of them activated, and all my 'friends' are near the entrance. Sonic, Shadow, Silver and Knuckles are all healed and are gold with crimson eyes; they're super.

"Amara! Are you okay?" Amy asks me worriedly. I glare at her.

"Why do you care? Gah!" I curl up. The shocks are getting stronger.

"What are you doing to her?" Shadow asks Eggman, fury in his voice.

"Just making sure she doesn't escape." He replies casually. "Now, the emerald or I'll make the shocks too strong for her."

I lift my head and see Shadow looking at me. "Take the collar off her first." He tells Eggman.

"Fine." He pushes a blue button and the collar pops off me. "Now, hand it over. Her cage can still electrocute her." I watch as Shadow reaches for the emerald.

"Don't!" I shout. He stops. "If you hand it over, you'll be handing over the world. My life isn't worth everybody else's in this world."

"We can beat him! We always do!" Sonic says confidently. I turn my gaze towards him.

"How? You guys couldn't even scratch one of these robots last time. All four of you could probably take two down when you're super, but seven? How are you going to handle seven?" I point out. I turn back to Shadow. "You know I'm right." He sets his jaw.

"Then we will end this now." With that said, all four of the super beings charge the robots. The robots move into action. The guys can't win. Even now, all they can do is dodge the punches the robots are throwing at them. All because of me. I know what I need to do. I stand and take a deep breath. But do I have the strength to do it?

I suddenly notice golden flecks around me. I take a closer look. They are tiny, golden orbs, just floating peacefully in the air. I know what they are: Light, the opposite of darkness. It doesn't lurk in the shadows, and, unlike it's dark counterpart, it is responsible for positive emotions. The orbs surround me and comfort me, giving me the strength I need.

I hurl myself at the electric bars and lodge myself in between them so I can't change my mind. Every fiber of my being is immediately laced with pain.

"Agggggghhhhhh!" I scream, unable to hide the agony I'm in. I vaguely hear shouts of panic, but the pain is too much for me to concentrate. What seems like hours later, the electric bars retract. Unable to keep myself standing, I fall out of the cage, down to the ground 20 feet below me. Before I can hit the ground, I see a flash of gold and I suddenly feel a pair of arms catch me.

"You stupid, stupid girl! What were you thinking?!" I recognize the panicked voice to be Shadow's. I don't reply; I don't think I can. So much pain. "We need to get you to a hospital." In the background I suddenly hear a groan of pain. The others! They're still fighting those robots! I call on the golden orbs, once again needing strength. He can't leave them, especially when he would be wasting his time trying to save what's already lost.

"Shadow," I say in a strong voice, surprising the both of us. "the others need your help. I'll be okay long enough for you to help them, I promise." I lift my head and look into his eyes, trying to convince him that I have enough strength. "Please, help them first." I plead. A pained look crosses his face. "Please."

He zooms over to where Amy, Tails, Blaze, and Rouge are. "Keep an eye on her." He tells them as he props me up against the back wall. He looks at me, eyes full of regret. "I am so sorry." He whispers to me, eyes slightly watering.

"I care too much to stay mad at you." I smile softly at him. "Now go." I gently push him away. "I'll be fine." With a reluctant nod, he leaves. I slump against the wall, my borrowed energy beginning to fade. I don't hurt anymore, just numb. I'm so tired.

"That's the first time I've ever lied to him." I murmur.

"What are you talking about?" Rouge looks at me concerned.

"I said I would be fine, but I won't." I calmly state. The air is so pretty now that I can see these light orbs.

Amy begins to panic. "W-wha- no. Don't talk like that. You're going to be fine." I look directly into her jade eyes.

"No, I won't." My energy is fading too fast. "Listen, you all were the best of friends I could ever ask for, even after what's happened. I forgive you all. Amy," With some effort, I look at her tear-filled eyes. "Tell Shadow 'I'm sorry, but it was too late anyways. Goodbye Shadykins.'"

"O-okay." She begins to sob. I give each one of my friends one last smile.

"I'll miss you all." I softly say.

"Bye Amara." Tears pour down Tails' face as he kneels down and grabs my hand.

"B-bye girly." Rouge sits next to me and loops her arm through mine. She attempts to smile, but fails. It's getting so cold.

"That was the bravest and most noble thing I've ever seen anyone do." Blaze compliments me tearfully, taking a seat next to my legs.

"Y-you'll never be f-forgotten." Amy hiccups, still sobbing. She sits on the other side of my legs and places a hand on my shin, needing some sort of contact before I go.

Sensing my last moments are here, I look at the fighting Shadow one last time. He must have sensed my gaze, for right in the middle of throwing one of his chaos spears, he stops and looks at me, dread in his eyes. I give him one last, reassuring smile, telling him it's okay. Feeling Death's cold hand on my shoulder, I close my eyes, so he won't have to see the life leave my eyes.

Mustering up my last bit of strength, I sigh with my last breath, "Goodbye." Then I let Death lead me away from the world and the people I've come to love.

**XXXXX**

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

"Chaos spear!" I grasp the weapon that at least dents these blasted robots. Suddenly, a sense of dread overwhelms me, and I freeze. My gaze automatically goes to Amara.

I meet her gaze and she smiles at me, the same smile Maria gave me before sending me off into space.

No.

Paralyzed, I watch as she calmly closes her eyes, and exhales.

Please.

She slumps in her friends arms.

Not again.

I hear Rose, Rouge, Blaze's and Tails' cries of grief.

No.

No...no.. No No NO!

Grief strikes me, and I drop to my knees. I have failed her, just like I did with Maria.

"Is the Ultimate Lifeform finally wising up and surrendering?" Robotnik says mockingly. My grief abruptly turns into burning rage. This is his fault. All. His. Fault.

I feel the dark energy from the chaos emeralds begin to flow into me, pushing out the light energy. I trap the light energy. I am going to need all the power I can get.

"Shadow!" Tikal's voice calls to me in my mind. "You cannot do this! Having both powers inside you at the same time is too much! It will kill you!"

"Then I die." I growl out loud. I push her out of my mind. Something suddenly smashes into the side of me and sends me crashing into a wall, debris covering me. My veins begin to sting like thousands of needles are stabbing them. I groan in pain. Then the flow of power stops.

I have a second of relief before my body is flaring in pain. The energies begins to spread to every inch of my body, the positive and negative battling each other for control. Once it reaches my head, the two powers suddenly smash together, combining into one. The new power swarms my mind, and it finally lets me take control again.

With ease, I remove myself from the pile of debris. Instead of a black mist surrounding me, a white one is. One of the Robo-chaos robots spots and charges me. I morph a spear from my mist and I throw it. The spear tears through the robot effortlessly, stopping it dead in its tracks, literally. Commotion from the battle ceases, everyone now noticing my new form.

"S-Shadow? Is that you? Are you... dark or something?" Silver asks, eyes wide with fright.

"I am neither dark nor super." I answer, my voice projecting to everywhere in the room. "I am Shadow the Superlative Being." I turn my gaze to the wide-eyed doctor. "Because of you, she's dead. Now, you must pay."

**Umm... review? *chuckles nervously***


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**For those who don't know: ****_superlative_****\- ****of the highest kind, quality, or order; surpassing all else or others. **

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

"I-It's not my fault she's dead!" Robotnik exclaims.

"Yes it is. None of this would have happened if you had not of kidnapped her." I point out. I begin to walk towards him.

"Robots!" He points at me. "Destroy him!" The other five golden robots march towards me. Not stopping, I create five more spears and, with a flick of my fingers, send them flying through each of the robots chests. The doctor scrambles to the door ten feet to his right. I speed up in front of him, blocking his way.

"You are not getting away this time, Doctor." I bare my teeth at him.

"Don't k-kill me! She did it with her own free will!" His back hits the wall, now trapped. I arch an eyebrow.

"Kill you? No, I will not do that." Relief flashes across his face. "No," My voice turns deadly. "You deserve much worse." Using the mist, I float up high enough so we can be face-to-face. Then my hand shoots out and clamps around his throat. I channel the dark energy into my eyes. I catch his gaze and hold it.

"You are going to live a long life. From this point on, the only things you will see is every single thing you find, and could find, horrifying." I curse him, a little of the mist dissolving into his eyes. I release him and he drops to the floor. He sits up, and his eyes widen. His eyes dart around frantically, fear on his pale face.

"No!" He screams. "Stay away from me!" He curls up on himself, hiding. Then he lets loose a blood-curdling scream. I smirk in satisfaction. Just what he deserves.

I turn my back on the screaming man. I notice the others, watching me fearfully and clustered around her body.

"I have no reason to punish any of you." I address them. "Yet." I begin to walk over to them.

"S-shadow," Amy speaks up from behind the still-super Sonic. "turn back to normal. This isn't you. P-please." Her voice quivers. "Amara would hate to see you like this."

"How would you know?" I growl. "You did not know her like I did, and you do not know me like she did. This IS me. The new and improved me. There is still a lot of evil in this leaderless world." I stop, now a few feet in front of them. "I will change all of that, however. Under my rule, no evil will taint this world. All will be fair and just."

"Would you listen to yourself? You want to take over the world?! You're no better than Eggman!" Sonic shouts at me.

"Do. Not. Compare me with him." I snarl. "Unless you would like to share the doctor's fate." His scream sounds, emphasizing my threat. Sonic slightly pales and stays silent. My gaze falls down to _her_.

"Move." I command. Reluctantly, everyone moves away from her body. I step up and kneel next to her. If it was not for her tattered clothing and the burn marks all over her body, she would look like she is sleeping. Suddenly, my mind is ripped from my body and plunged into a black, empty void.

"_I can bring her back, if you want_." A male voice says, voice echoing.

"Who are you? Where am I?" I demand.

"_I will tell you later, for we do not have much time. I can bring her back to life_." He repeats

"How?"

"_I have my ways, but I will need something in return_."

"What do you want?" I ask cautiously.

"_Someday soon, I will ask you to do a favor. I need you to swear you will do this favor for me when the time comes_."

"What is the favor?"

"_I will tell you when I need it. Now, do we have a deal or not_?" I think about it.

"Just answer me this: is the favor having to kill or harm an innocent person?"

"_No_." Hmm. What do I have to lose?

"If you fail to uphold your end, I will find you and end you." I threaten.

"_Yeah yeah_." He says, unfazed. "_Just repeat after me: In return for restoring my friend's life, I swear to perform the task that will be asked of me in the future. If I break this promise, not only will my friend return to the afterlife, but I shall go as well_."

I repeat it. He chuckles darkly. "_Very good. See you soon, Shadow_." I am yanked out of the void and back in my body. Immediately, I look at Amara's face, searching for any signs of life. A few minutes pass.

I growl. I should have known better. "That lying-"

"Shadow?" Amara's eyes open.

**XXXXX**

**Amara's P.O.V. **

There is no tunnel with a light at the end of it like some people believe. Instead, I got stranded in a pitch-black void, unable to see a thing. Then, it starts to gradually lighten up. Colors start forming, and, eventually, I find myself in a forest with a cozy cabin to my left, no longer seeing animation. I look at myself. I'm still an animated hedgehog though.

"Amara!" A feminine voice calls from behind me. I whirl around.

"Grandma?" My voice quivers. My grandma passed away five years ago. Grandma smiles at me and opens her arms to me. With joyful tears falling down my face, I sprint over to her and tightly hug her.

"Oh grandma! I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too dear." She hugs me back.

"So, what is this place?" I ask, stepping out of her arms.

"This is your personal heaven. Everyone who dies and is deserving has their own heavens." I look around.

"I can get used to staying here." I smile approvingly. "No more drama. Now I can spend time with you and wait for everybody else."

"Sorry Amara." My grandma smiles sadly at me. "But your journey is not over yet."

"What?" I ask, confused.

"You are destined to do great things, things that have yet to be fulfilled." She calmly states. My heaven shudders, the light flickering. "It seems we are out of time." She pulls me into a hug."I love you granddaughter, and I am so proud of you."

I tear up, not wanting to leave her. "I love you too grandma." The area flickers more.

"Amara," I look up at her. "don't be too cautious in life. Life is too short to do that if you plan to enjoy it."

Before I can reply, huge, dark tendrils invade my heaven. They wrap themselves around me and drag me away from my grandma and my heaven. I am once again surrounded by blackness, this time wind slapping my hair against my face from the high speed I'm traveling at. Too abrubtly, the tendrils stop and throw me down. I fall into something and become immobile. I hear, see, and feel nothing. Wait... I can feel? I'm back in my body! Then I hear a growl I'd know from anywhere.

"That lying-"

"Shadow?" I interrupt him and, breaking free from my frozen state, open my eyes. What I see shocks me to the core. I see a white hedgehog with black highlights kneeling next to me. A white, eerie mist surrounds him, and his eyes... his eyes are completely black, sclera and all.

"Amara?" He looks at me.

"What happened to you Shadow?" I whisper. He stands up.

"I have both positive and negative energies from the emeralds. Ultimate is no longer sufficient. I am superlative." He answers. I thought his monotoned voice before was emotionless, but now it sounds cold, heartless. Just hearing it gives me chills. "I now have the power to take control and rid the world of its evils. A world without people like Dr. Robotnik." He bares his teeth in hatred. Then, a scream I'll never forget, echoes through the room. I look and see Eggman trashing on the ground. Shadow follows my gaze and smiles viciously. "He got what he deserved though." The blood drains from my face, and I turn my head, unable to look any longer.

"What did you do?" I ask fearfully. For the first time ever, I'm afraid of him. No, I fear this superlative Shadow. He is not the same Shadow that I know.

"Why is there fear in your eyes? You should be grateful. I punished him for what he did to you."

"He didn't make me do that though! It was the only way I could think of that would prevent you from giving him the last chaos emerald."

"It never would have happened if he had not of kidnapped you though." He growls, getting frustrated with me. "Why are you defending him? Last time you saw him, you almost killed him!"

"I warned him before I turned dark, when I was myself. But this... you are not yourself." I say with narrowed eyes.

"This is me. I just have a substantial amount of power now." He smirks darkly. "Nothing else is different." I shake my head.

"No. Everything about you is different. The Shadow I know would still be merciful to Eggman, and..." A lump forms in my throat. "I don't fear the Shadow I know." He looks at me blankly.

"You. Fear. Me?" He asks lowly, his tone making my fur stand up. I look directly into his black eyes, holding nothing back.

"Yes." He shuts his eyes, clenching his fist. I gasp as the white mist suddenly wraps itself around me, lifting me up before him. What is he going to do? He opens his eyes, the hardness in them terrifying me.

"Then I'll give you a reason to fear me." He reaches for me. I clamp my eyes shut, a whimper escaping my mouth.

Nothing happens.

I open my eyes and see him with his eyes shut, clenching his fists, and shaking. His white fur flashes black for a second. The mist holding me grows weak and drops me. Unable to look away, I watch as Shadow struggle with himself, the flashes of black lasting a little longer each time. Then, finally, he stays black, returning back to normal. I stand.

"Shadow?" I asks cautiously. Familiar red eyes meet my gaze. "Oh Shadow!" With my eyes watering, I fling myself at him. "I'm so happy to see you." I say into his chest, relieved beyond belief that he's back to normal. His body is rock hard, but then it relaxes and he hugs me back.

"Are you alright?" He asks me, his voice horse. I step out of his embrace.

"Now I am." I smile. His face has a haunted look. My smile drops. Before I can comfort him, the others come running up.

"Oh Amara!" Amy shouts joyfully and they all, back to normal as well, hurl themselves at me, forming a group hug. Excluding Shadow. Happy tears of my own form.

"Hey guys." I grin. Another scream sounds, ruining the happy reunion. I look at Shadow, the haunted look gone all except from his eyes. "What are you going to do with him?" I ask.

Worry flashes across his face. "I do not know of I can undo it. I would have to transform again."

"You don't have to try if you don't want to." I say comfortingly. He sets his jaw, determined

"It would be the right thing to do though." He turns and makes his way to Eggman. I decide to give him space and stay put. Once he reaches the doctor, Shadow pulls out the green chaos emerald from within his quills. It begins to glow. Shadow then reaches down and grabs him, forcing Eggman to look at him. Eggman's eyes glaze over.

"I release you from your curse." Shadow says in the same voice from earlier. Eggman's eyes clear up and he slumps to the ground after Shadow releases him. The emerald's glowing stops. He walks back over to us.

"He will be alright now." He says, not looking at anyone. I look at everybody's faces and see they still have some lingering fear for Shadow.

"Then... we can go home?" I ask, hopeful. It has been, by far, the longest, and worst, day of my life. Not everyone loses their friends, gets kidnapped, gets electrocuted, and dies all in one day.

"Yes." Shadow nods. We gather all seven of the emeralds first, then Shadow leads the way out. Exhausted, everyone remains silent as we walk.

Once we finally get outside, I stop. It's nighttime, the sky clear and full of stars; The crescent moon is shining brightly on the blanket of snow covering the ground. It's so beautiful. I tear up.

"What's wrong Amara?" Blaze touches my a shoulder, concerned. Immediately, everyone's gazes are on me.

"Sorry," I sniffle. "It's just so beautiful. I can't help but to appreciate it, since I almost had to say goodbye to it."

"Nothing wrong with that." Knuckles gives me a small smile.

"We obviously have a lot to discuss, but we're all also tired. How about we meet at my house tomorrow?" Tails says. Sounds of agreement sound. Shadow grabs the blue chaos emerald, preparing to chaos control.

"Wait." I say. He stops. "If you don't mind, I'd like to walk home."

"Aren't you freezing?" Sonic asks me. I look at myself and realize I'm wearing my tanktop and black skinny jeans, both with numerous rips.

"No." My face scrunches up in confusion. "I'm perfectly warm." I bend and grab a handful of snow. It feels like snow, but it's not cold. "Hmm. The last time I felt cold was..." My eyes wide in realization. "Oh."

"What?" Shadow asks.

"The last time I felt cold, was when I died." I let the snow drop from my hands. "Nothing can compare to that coldness." I murmur. Guilt and sorrow fills the air. "We'll talk tomorrow." I smile sadly at them. "I just want a nice, scenic walk home right now."

"Hang on." Shadow tells me. "Chaos control!" He and the others disappear with a blue flash. A second passes and Shadow is back with another blue flash. "I will walk with you."

"Okay." I smile, and I begin to walk.

"How are you doing?" Shadow asks after a few moments of silence.

"Good, actually. I'm just happy to be alive again. I'm also happy I got to see my grandma again."

"You did?"

I smile. "Yeah, I did. She told me she loved me and that she was proud of me."

"Of course she is." He gives me a small smile.

"What about you? How are you doing?" I ask him. The haunted look surfaces again.

"Not as well." I wait for him to elaborate. "I just lost control after watching you die. It was like seeing Maria die again. And the power," He takes a deep breath. "it was so much. It warped my mind," He looks at me from the side of his eye. "which you already know."

"Yeah." I look down. "I thought you couldn't be reached for awhile there." I admit. "What snapped you out of it?" He stays silent for a minute.

"It started when you said you feared me. You have never feared me before. What really did it, though, was when you whimpered, your eyes shut in fear. Knowing I was the reason for it was too much for me."

He stops, and I halt as well. "I have come to realize that you are my closest friend. As close as Maria and I were, actually. That being said, I am truly sorry for everything that I have put you through." His ears lower, ashamed. Thrown off by the sudden vulnerability he's showing me, I gape. After a few seconds, I recollect myself.

"It's alright Shadow. Life has hurt and been hard to you. You isolated yourself to prevent from getting hurt again. It's understandable that you give the person who manages to slip past your walls enough trouble to last a couple lifetimes." I smirk. He huffs, an amused smile threatening to surface. I start walking again.

"Here's the thing though: I don't want you doing anything, or acting, different around me just because of what I went through. I want you to be you. If you feel the need to change some things, then do it for you, not for me. Got it?" I ask him, nothing but serious. He looks at me for a few seconds. Then he straightens up, like a load was lifted off his shoulders, and does his famous smirk.

"Got it."

"Good." By this time, we reach his house. We go inside. Shadow goes off into his room and I take a much-needed shower. By the time I'm in bed, it's only 8:22 p.m. What is it with the bad days seeming longer than they actually are? It wasn't all bad though. I got to see my grandma again, I have a new appreciation for life, and I won't feel cold anymore. Ha! Take that winter! And the best part: I have finally fully befriended Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform.

**In memory of my Grandma Shirley, who passed away a couple years ago.**

**Leave a review please!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Amara's P.O.V. **

"Hey guys. Everybody else is already here." Tails steps aside and lets Shadow and me through his front door. For it being 9 o'clock in the morning and mid February, it sure is nice out. Then again, I don't feel the cold anymore, so I can't really say it's warm out. Not without a second opinion anyway. Like the dark tendrils, I am already accustomed to seeing the golden, dust-like orbs everywhere I go. If I only knew why I can see them though.

We enter the living room and, sure enough, everybody else is already there and seated. I take a seat on Tails' four-person couch, with Blaze and Silver sitting on it, while Amy motions Shadow to sit next to her on the loveseat. Shadow declines and sits next to me, to my surprise. I catch the flash of surprise cross Amy's face as well before she hides it. A heavy, awkward silence falls once we're settled.

I speak up, ready to get this over with. "So, when did you guys realize I was telling the truth?"

"Shadow did, actually." Amy says.

"I noticed the flowers from my hospital room were not wilting, so I grabbed one and saw it was a fake. Inside, a microphone was hidden." Shadow explains.

"Once we realized our mistake, we wasted no time in making a plan to rescue you." Sonic says, then his ears flatten against his head. "Tried to anyway." He lowers his head. The heavy silence returns. I sigh.

"Okay, let's just get it out there: I died." A couple of my friends flinch. Amy tears up.

"It was all our faults, we shouldn't of-"

"Stop." I hold my hand up. "Wishing to change things won't do any good. Yes, it hurt me when you didn't believe me, but I really do forgive you all. Let's be honest, you've only known me for about a month now, and Eggman suddenly changed, forcing you guys to figure out who you're dealing with and to forget the old Eggman. When you're figuring out someone, mistakes will be made, like yesterday."

"But you died because of our mistake." Tails whispers.

"I also died peacefully." I state firmly. "I realized I still cared about you guys, and that I couldn't leave you all, letting you think I was hurting to the very end. No, I was thankful for everything and everyone in my life. I was happy." I smile, getting teary.

"I know I can't get rid of your guilt, no matter how hard I try, so I ask that you don't treat me like a victim, or be kind out of guilt. Treat me like a survivor. Like a friend. Like a normal person." I look into everybody's eyes, one at a time. "Life is a gift, so let's enjoy it." Rouge stands up.

"Let's start with a group hug then!" She walks over to me and pulls me into a hug. The crew joins in, and a couple happy tears escape my eyes. My friends.

Once we all break away, I notice Shadow had unsurprisingly stayed out of the big hug. "Aww, do you feel left out Shadykins?" I tease, advancing towards him.

"Do not think about it." He warns. I smile wickedly.

"Group hug!" I cheer. I lunge and wrap my arms around Shadow, the others close behind me.

"Ugh." Shadow groans as we hug him, snickering as we do.

"Alright, he feels the love. We can let go now." I say after a few moments.

"Poor, lonely Shads." Sonic smirks as we dislodge ourselves.

"Watch it Faker." Shadow growls. He suddenly stills.

"Shadow?" I touch his arm. He stays still for a few more seconds, then he blinks.

"Tikal requests a meeting. Now." He pulls out the blue chaos emerald. "Chaos control!" In a flash, everyone is in the Master Emerald's shrine, in front of the large gem itself.

"A warning would have been nice." Knuckles grumbles, queasily holding his stomach. Shadow ignores him and looks at me.

"We can talk to Tikal by touching the Master Emerald." He explains to me. He leads me right up to the emerald. I reach out and touch the giant gem. I suddenly feel my mind being pulled and find myself outside the Master Emerald's shrine, the others and I standing in front of the orange echidna I recognize as Tikal. Her warm gaze falls on me.

"Who are you?"

"She's a new friend of ours. Her name's Amara Vipsin." Sonic introduces me.

"A pleasure to meet you, Amara. I am Tikal." She nods her head to me.

"Nice to meet you too." I smile. She returns her attention to our group.

"I am sorry for the sudden request, but this is a rather urgent matter."

"What is it?" Knuckles asks her.

"Let me start from the very beginning, so you can understand.

Since the first beings, the world had two main powers: one known as Light, and the other Dark. Light was responsible for the good emotions in the people, while Dark was responsible for the negative ones. Without these powers, people would not have emotions, and life would lose its charm.

"While everyone used these two powers for emotion, there were some who could harness these powers even more. Some of these users could control one power, referred to as Light or Dark Users, and then there was only a few who could control both powers. These few were known as the Overseers. Being users of both powers, they were considered not good nor bad, but just. Unlike the Dark Users, the Overseers knew what was right and wrong, and, unlike the Light Users, they had a limited amount of mercy. They made sure the balance between the Dark and Light powers was not disturbed.

"One day, five thousand years ago, one of the eight existing Overseers betrayed the others. His name was Dovarian. He was somehow able to keep the Light power from affecting him, and he had sided completely with the Dark power. Wishing to rule the world, he secretly organized an army of Dark Users and had absorbed more Dark power than anyone had ever dared, for absorbing too much of the powers could result in death. With his vast amount of power, he managed to make himself immortal, something that had never been done before. Once Dovarian was ready, he unleashed his army and challenged the other seven Overseers. As valiant of a fight they put up, Dovarian was still stronger. Making one last attempt to save their world, the seven Overseers joined their powers and cursed Dovarian. They cursed him to be confined in the darkest part of the world forever. Leaderless, the Dark army retreated. The Overseers had won.

"There was a loophole to their curse, however: it could be undone by another Overseer using a vast amount of power. To prevent Dovarian from escaping, the Overseers took a little over half of both the Light and Dark powers and stored them in a large emerald, the only material able to hold both powers. The Overseers left the rest of the powers to the world, calling it the World powers and the powers in the emerald Chaos powers. Aware that the Chaos powers might be needed someday, each one of the Overseers created smaller emeralds that would be able to access the powers within the larger emerald and lend it to the people in need. This was the birth of the seven chaos emeralds and the Master Emerald. They made it so that once the power was done with, it would return back to the Master Emerald. The Overseers casted a spell that made it so no one could control both the World and Chaos powers, not even them. If anyone tried, it would kill them. This made it so that if Dovarian were to be released, he would need two Overseers, one who could control the World powers and the other to control the Chaos powers, to break the curse. Then they made another spell to stop the birth of future Overseers. And finally, to ensure Dovarian's confinement, six of the Overseers gave up their lives, so Dovarian could not tempt them. They left one, Micca, to watch over the people.

"Micca wanted to be sure he and the other Overseers had done everything possible to prevent Dovarian's escape, so he went and visited a prophetess. She informed him that in the time between making the chaos emeralds and casting the spell preventing the birth of future Overseers, two children were born. She said that between the two, one would control the Chaos powers and the other would control the World powers when they grew up. The knowledge of the boy and girl's names and looks have been lost over time, since their existence was kept a secret." Tikal informs us, then continues.

"Micca immediately went to retrieve the infants, but, unknown to him, one of Dovarian's loyal followers overheard Micca and the prophetess' conversation and reported it to Dovarian through the World Dark Power. Even imprisioned, Dovarian was strong enough to cast a spell on the two infants before Micca arrived. Once Micca retrieved the two, he realized what Dovarian had done: he made it so when the two children died, they would be reincarnated with the same powers. Micca did not know what to do. Even if he raised the children to defy Dovarian, after he would die and they were reborn after dying from old age, they would not remember their previous lives and be vulnerable to Dovarian.

"Then, Micca had an idea. His idea was to send one of the children to another world, the child who controlled the World powers. Since Micca controlled the Chaos powers, it would be impossible for him and the other child who controlled the Chaos powers to release Dovarian. Also, the child chosen to stay would feel a natural urge to protect the innocent, therefore, the world would still have a protector after Micca was long dead. Micca asked the prophetess which of children would control the World powers, and she told him it was the girl. Micca, using the Chaos powers, transported the baby girl to a random world, so no one, not even he or Dovarian, could find her. Micca then spent the rest of his days mentoring the boy and protecting the people." Tikal pauses, giving us a chance to process the story she told us.

"The powers are still in effect today, five thousand years later. Sonic, Knuckles, and Silver, you are Light Chaos Users. Your dark forms do not count, because if pushed enough, anyone can turn dark, Dark Users or not." All three of their eyes widen.

"Cool." Silver grins.

"What about me?" Shadow asks Tikal. She grimaces.

"Well, you control both the Chaos powers. You should have died from trying to use both the Chaos powers, but you did not." Shock courses through everyone.

Amy speaks up. "Does that mean he's an Overseer?"

"Yes. Not just an Overseer, though, but the same boy Overseer Micca raised." Oh. Wow.

"I am the Ultimate Lifeform. I was created, not born. I cannot be this boy." Shadow tries to argue.

"Then tell me: are you seeing anything unusual about this place?" Tikal gestures around her. Shadow hesitates.

"I see gold dust in the air and moving shadows that should not be moving." I freeze, all too familiar with the description.

"Do any of you see these things right now?" She asks everyone else. We shake our heads; for the first time in about a week, I don't see them. "You are seeing the Light and Dark Chaos powers, Shadow. Only a Chaos Overseer can see them, just like a World Overseer can see the World powers." Could I be the girl Overseer?

My thoughts are interrupted as I manage to see Shadow's jaw tighten. Maybe he realized what Tikal is telling him is true. "Fine, I will humor you. Maybe I am this reincarnated male. Why tell us all this now then?"

"I believe Dovarian and his followers have found the girl, or is at least close to finding her. In the past month, there have been two incidents where a substantial amount of both Dark powers was used. Normally this occurs once a year. Also, this prophecy was recently revealed to me:

'_One named for darkness, yet heart full of humanity_

_Controls both the ancient powers of Chaos_

_Destined to awaken His Darkness_

_Converted to serve and obey for eternity_

_A sentenced world to be forever lightless_

_Another controls the ancient powers of the World_

_Heart made of gold, dangerous to all foes_

_Their lover temps them, 'Join the darkness'_

_Forced to make a choice, the world's fate to be determined_

_The world's only hope from escaping darkness'_

"Micca had only delayed Dovarian's escape, but I'm afraid that day is now fast-approaching."

"Is there anything we can do to stop this?" Tails asks, concerned.

"The best thing I can come up with now is to see if Dovarian does, indeed, know where the girl is, and hide her again if we can get to her. Maybe you as well, Shadow. It would take Dovarian even longer to find the both of you." Tikal suggests. Shadow's eyes narrow.

"No. I made a promise to Maria that I would protect this world, and I intend on keeping it." Tikal nods her head in acknowledgement.

"Very well. You are the only one who will be able to figure out if Dovarian has found her, however. You need to practice controlling the Chaos powers, and, once you have mastered both of them, you must use your new powers to find where she is. These powers are ancient, therefore they contain valuable information. The more you control them, the more you learn from, and about, them. I will help you when I can, but most of your answers will be answered by these two powers."

She looks at the rest of us. "As for the rest of you, watch for a female who is around your age and seems to be unfamiliar to this world. I know, it is a pretty vague description, but it is all that is known of her."

"We'll find her." Sonic winks, giving his famous thumbs-up. Nods of agreement follow. This is when I should speak up, tell them that their search ends here, but I can't. The words can barely form themselves in my head let alone in my mouth. They'll send me away, away from here and even farther away from my family. So, instead, I bury my secret and plaster a smile.

"Let the adventure begin."

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	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**Yeesh. School finally gets out and my parents immediately put me to work. :P**

**Christian Wolf27-**** I excluded you because you've reviewed every single chapter, so I haven't had a chance to miss your reviews! :)**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Amara's P.O.V. **

Once again, I find my mind overwhelmed. After bidding us farewell and good luck, Tikal sent us back to the real world. Everybody then went home to think about all that they have just learned. Of course, as soon as Shadow and I got back home, he went to the back yard with a couple chaos emeralds and started practicing using the Chaos powers.

Fine by me though. Now I have time to somewhat organize my thoughts while sitting on the comfy living room couch. For starters, I am the girl Overseer. I think about the prophecy. From what I can gather, Shadow will be the main reason for Dovarian's release, will side with Darkness for some reason, and he will be Dovarian's servant. Then there's me: responsible for my part in releasing Dovarian and for the world's salvation, while being tempted by Shadow to join the Darkness, considering how he is the only one I have strong feelings for at the moment. Right. No pressure.

As frightening as the prophecy is, though, so much about me makes sense now, like why I'm a hedgehog in this world rather than a human; I was meant to be this hedgehog. It also explains why I was never quite able to fit in back in my world and why I am able see these tendrils and orbs. I bet I can guess when and why there was those two occurrences of Dark power being used this past month: the first of January, when I first arrived in this world, and when I turned dark last week, it being the first time I've ever used the World powers.

While things are being explained, I am faced with one major decision: what should I do? Should I not use my powers to prevent me from being found out? I think I'd eventually be discovered anyway, and choosing that option would also ensure me to never see my family again. Then should I secretly practice using my powers and get myself back home before anyone realizes? But then what would stop the Dark powers from bringing me right back? Or Shadow coming after me once he masters his powers?

I drop my head into my hands. I miss the days before all this happened; those care-free, simple days. Wait a minute. The Overseers could cast spells, so what if I could cast a spell that would hide my location? I could go back home, and this world and its inhabitants would stay safe. I would always miss this world, but it's better than the other option.

"Are you okay?" I jump and see Shadow in the kitchen doorway.

"Oh, yeah. Just wishing for the simple days to come back." I half smile. He nods in understanding and comes to sit by me on the couch. "How's the training going?" I ask.

"Not as well as I want. I have barely started and I am already weary." He frowns in frustration. I make a mental note for when I practice.

"You can't be immediately perfect at something you've never done before." I roll my eyes. Then I remember my uncanny ability to professionally aim and shoot the first time I shot a gun. "Well, most things." I grin sheepishly. I suddenly remember something.

"You know, I never thanked you. Thanked you for bringing me back to life, that is. It must have taken a lot of energy. So, thank you." I smile softly at him. I really have no idea how he managed that, but I am thankful, nonetheless. A flash of concern crosses his face.

"You are welcome." He says, a hint of forced-normalcy in his voice. What's up with that? I change the subject.

"How about some lunch? That might help you get some energy." One thing that I've learned about Shadow is to let him tell you what's on his mind rather than you confront him about it.

"That would help." He nods. I stand and go make some soup and sandwiches for him and myself. Once we finish eating, I gather the dishes and begin to clean up the kitchen.

"Don't kill yourself from practicing too much. Unlike you, I can't bring you back to life." I half tease. He rolls his eyes and goes back out to the back yard.

Ah Shadow. Another complication and gift in my life. I trust him as much as I trust my father, and I wouldn't change anything about him. Well, maybe he could lighten up a bit, but other than that I wouldn't change anything. If only I liked him as a friend though. I tried to keep my feelings in check, but I should've known no one can really control their feelings. It started when I saw Shadow get beaten up by those two Robo-chaos robots, and it solidified the more he opened up to me. I will certainly miss him the most when I go back home. Just thinking about leaving him gives me heart-ache. But I can't stay, not if I don't want this world to fall into darkness. At least I don't have to worry about being suddenly transported back home, now that I know the World Dark power bought me here to release Dovarian. This time I will be the one to decide when I leave.

My thoughts are interrupted by someone knocking on the door. I go and open the front door to reveal Amy. She still has some light bruising from last week, and I'm sure her ribs are still tender. Regardless, she looks a lot better than her first day in the hospital.

"Oh hey Amy! What's up?" I ask.

"Is Shadow in there?" She asks nervously, peeking over my shoulder.

"No. He's out in the back yard, training already." I roll my eyes. "What do you need?"

"I need to talk to you, alone." She answers.

"Okay? Come on in." I step aside and let her in. Amy plops down on the couch, still wearing that uneasy expression on her face. I sit next to her. "What's wrong Amy?"

"I, uh, I think I'm finally over Sonic." She says with a small smile.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" I ask, confused.

"Yeah, but I think I like someone else now." Her uneasiness grows. I arch an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"S-Shadow." She whispers. I freeze. "Since I decided to get over Sonic, I've been noticing how nice Shadow can be, and... how cute he is." She blushes.

"So, uh, w-why do you need to talk to me?" I manage to find my voice.

"Well, I was w-wondering if you know if he might... like me back? I don't want to chase him around, thinking he does. I wasted so much time doing that to Sonic, and it didn't do me any good." Her ears droop.

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. What am I waiting for? I know Shadow has an interest in Amy, and I'll be leaving as soon as I can. He's going to need someone else to be there for him. He needs her. I force myself to unfreeze.

"I don't know how much, but I know he likes you." I say with forced words and smile, determined not to let my wants ruin Shadow's shot at happiness.

Light orbs dissolve into Amy as her eyes grow huge and a giddy smile threatens to appear. "R-really? He likes me?" I nod.

"But you didn't hear it from me." I warn. She giggles.

"Are you sure? I mean, if anything, I thought he'd like you." My eyes widen.

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, you two seem closer than he and I are. I also noticed that after he went 'superlative'-" She shudders from the memory. "he made your well-being his main concern. He normally does that for me. Seeing him do that to you instead actually made me miss it and get a little jealous." She gets a sheepish smile.

"Well, we're just close friends. You have no idea of how much patience I had to use just to befriend that guy." I sigh dramatically. "I had a suspicion he liked you though, so I asked him about it. He admitted it, but," I get serious. "he feels you are too good for him, so he has been hiding how he feels."

"I never knew." Amy says, stunned.

"I should let him tell you all this, but I know him, and I know he won't breath a single word to you about it first."

"Well, thank you Amara." Amy smiles appreciatively at me.

I nod. "Remember: you didn't hear any of this from me. He would kill me if he found out." I joke.

"Found out what?" A weary Shadow walks into the living room. Amy and I jump. Why does he have to be so sneaky?!

"For, uh..." Crap!

"Hey Shadow, can I ask you something?" Amy starts to twiddle her fingers.

"What?" He notices her nervousness and forgets about the earlier conversation. Whew.

"I don't have anything going on tomorrow night, and I was wondering if you'd like to go do something with me?" She looks at him shyly. His eyes widen in surprise and they flick over to me, asking if this is really happening. I grin.

"Uh, sure. If you want." He says hesitantly.

"Yay!" She cheers, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. "Does 6:30 tomorrow night work for you?"

"Sure." His voice still has a disbelieving tone to it.

"Great! See you tomorrow then!" She smiles at him, then turns to me. "I'll still help you get ready for tomorrow too."

"Oh yeah. I kinda forgot." I grin sheepishly. A tendril slips into Shadow from the corner of my eye. Why does he dislike Cody so much?

Smirking, Amy shakes her head. "Figures. Rouge and I will be here tomorrow afternoon, around 4. So see you guys tomorrow!" She waves goodbye and leaves. I look at Shadow and smirk.

"Well well. Look who also has a date for Valentines Day."

"Did you put her up to it?" He glares suspiciously at me.

"No! I am just as surprised as you are. Before you came in, she told me she thinks she's finally over Sonic and maybe even interested in someone else." I smile slyly at him. Shadow crosses his arms, a frown on his face. I sigh, becoming serious.

"Look, Shadow. I know you feel she's too good for you and all that, but don't you think you deserve to be happy too? I think you do, and you know Maria would as well. Also, Amy actually wants to get to know you better, so why not just see how things go?"

"How about we stop talking about this. I already said I would go." He snaps at me.

"Then you better not ruin tomorrow night with your dark mood." I warn.

"Hmph." He sits on the love seat and turns on the TV. I sit as well and watch the nature documentary he just switched to. Yeesh, the headaches this guy can give me.

**XXXXX**

The rest of the day went by normally, for the first time in for what feels like a long time. I went to band practice and got bombarded by questions from Spencer and Noah about where I've been this past week-and-a-half. I made home-made chicken nuggets for dinner, and they almost tasted just like my mom's, making me homesick. Shadow called it a night early, so I retired to my room as well, it only being 8:30.

Now I'm sitting on my bed, trying to figure out how to start my World power training. Do I call the Light or Dark power first? Although, now that I think about it, I've already called each of the powers by themselves. What I haven't tried is both powers at the same time. I focus on some dark tendrils and on the golden orbs near them.

"Come here." I command. Nothing happens, not even a flick of movement. I try again, but I get the same result. "What am I doing wrong?" I growl in frustration. I suddenly have two flashbacks: the first one being when I first used the dark tendrils, and the other when I first used the golden orbs. I was so angry when I used the tendrils, and I was selfless when I used the orbs. Maybe I can use the powers based on what emotion I'm feeling. So how would I use both at the same time?

I straighten up. What if I had no emotion? Just a clean slate? I clear all my emotions, feeling nothing. I focus back on the tendrils and orbs.

"Come here." This time the tendrils and orbs zip over and stop right in front of me, waiting for my next command. I wonder what would happen if I absorbed both of them.

A memory pops into my head, but it's not mine. Shadow is in his super form, and he just witnessed my death. I watch as he keeps the Light Chaos power and absorbs the Dark Chaos power, becoming Superlative Shadow. The image shifts and I see seven figures, all of them as white as Superlative Shadow, but only having black irises instead of black scleras and they don't have that white mist surrounding them. The image dissolves, and I'm back in my room.

"What the...?" What's going on? Those were not my memories. Were they some sort of vision?

Another memory appears, this time my own. 'These powers are ancient... The more you control them, the more you learn from, and about, them.' Tikal's voice says. So... all these memories are from the Dark and Light World powers? I think back to the two flashbacks. What they both had in common was the white fur and the intimidating black eyes. Is that what would happen if I absorbed both powers?

I suddenly see a light blue, female echidna with purple highlights fighting a red, male fox. I quickly recognize the fox to be a Dark user and the echidna to be an Overseer. The echidna looks like she is about to loose the battle, but before the fox can deliver the final blow, the echidna quickly absorbs both Light and Dark powers. Her fur turns white, and both her highlights and her irises turn black. She takes control of the powers and quickly finishes off the fox. Another memory of a different fight appears. This time the Overseer is clearly furious with his opponent, and when he absorbs the powers, he turns white, his entire eye turns black, and he has the white mist. He finishes off his opponent rather brutally. The memory stops.

So that's why Shadow's eyes were all black and why he had the mist; he had a little more Darkness inside him than he had Light, hence why he gave that harsh punishment to Eggman. Well, let's see if I can handle this.

"Come." Using the same word I used when I first controlled the Dark power, the tendrils and orbs dissolve into me. At first I feel nothing, but then flames of pain burst inside me. I feel the powers clashing as I try to control them. It spreads to the rest of my body, and once it reaches my head, I feel one more burst of pain before I feel the powers mix together.

I uncurl myself from the fetal position I didn't even know I was in and sit up. My mind is the clearest I've ever felt it, and my body is humming with power. I go over to my mirror and confirm my prediction: white fur, black hair, and black irises. That transformation was rather unpleasant. I hope I will not have to go through that very often.

Seeing more memories from the powers, I learn that because it takes a lot of personal energy to activate and to sustain it, this form is used when the Overseer cannot overcome an obstacle in their normal form. Sometimes, though, it is activated when the Overseer loses control of their emotions, like Shadow did. Feeling my own energy quickly fading, I release the powers and return to normal.

While I learned some valuable information, I still don't know where to start in my training. I suddenly see more memories, memories of young Overseers practicing their abilities. One memory is of a young, male cat learning how to control the powers and make them retrieve objects for him. I guess that's where I should start.

I practiced for what felt like hours, getting help from the powers' memories when I needed it. Every time I had a question or had the wrong thought, there was a memory to answer or to fix it. At one point, I thought that maybe I could practice the same time Shadow does, in a different area of course, but I was quickly shown some memories and learned that if I plan on keeping my powers a secret from Shadow, then I'll have to train when he's not. If I were to train at the same time he was, then he would sense me, just like I would him, and be able to quickly, and easily, find me. Looks like I'll be staying up pretty much every night now.

After successfully retrieving my hair brush and a couple books from across the room, I collapse on my bed, exhausted, and I check the time. It's only 10 p.m.! I thought it would have been at least 1 a.m. This is going to take a lot more work than I thought.

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	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

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**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Amara's P.O.V. **

I just got done cleaning up breakfast when someone knocks on the front door. "You expecting anyone this early?" I ask Shadow, whose seated at the opposite end of the couch.

"No. It must be for you."

"Hmm." I stand up and answer the door.

"Mornin' Amara." Sonic smiles.

"Oh, hey Sonic! Come on in." I step aside. "What's up?" I ask once he's inside.

"Nothin' much. Tails told me to give this to you." Sonic hands me a small silver box. I grab it and open it. Inside is one of the wrist-communicators Sonic and the crew has and the limitless credit card too. "Welcome to the crew Amara." Sonic grins at me. I glance at Shadow in surprise and find him smiling softly at me. Tears begin to pool in my eyes.

"I can't accept this..." I start to hand the box back to Sonic.

"Oh no you don't." He steps away from my outstretched hand. "Like it or not, you're important to all of us. It's the least we can give ya. You deserve this."

"T-thank you. This means a lot to me." I smile and begin to put on the communicator. Sonic waves his hand.

"Ah, don't mention it. Question for ya though."

"What?" I arch an eyebrow at him.

"I have nothing planned for today, and I thought maybe this would be a good time to hang out? Everybody else is busy with something else." He shuffles his feet. Shadow scoffs. I ignore him.

"Oh I see. Make me your last option." I tease.

"You know what they say, '_Save the best for last_'." He winks. I shake my head and chuckle.

"Smooth. I'm free until 4 this afternoon, so I'd love to hang out with you. Just let me grab my purse."

"Sweet! I'll wait outside." I go to my room and grab my purse and phone. I walk to the door.

"I bet you are loving all the attention you are getting from guys right now." Shadow suddenly says in a cold tone. I stop and turn to him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He shrugs.

"You have a date tonight, and now you are going to '_hang out_' with Faker. Busy day, if you ask me." I narrow my eyes at him.

"Well, I didn't." I turn my back on him and walk out the door. What's his problem?! Sonic looks at me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm alright." I suppress my annoyance. No need to take it out on Sonic. "So what are we going to do?"

"Actually, I need to talk to you first. I didn't want to say anything in front of Shadow, and Tails can only help with so much."

"Oh. What's going on?"

"Hang on. Not here." He makes a move to pick me up. "May I?" I nod. He picks me up bridal-style and speeds off. The speed makes my hair fly back and gives me a thrill. It's amazing to see the world fly by like this. If only Shadow was the one showing me this though.

Sonic stops and sets me down. We're on a cliff overlooking the city, the forest behind us. A perfect example of a winter wonderland.

"The view is beautiful." I say, mesmerized by it.

"I like it too. This is where I go when I want to be alone. You still can't feel the cold, right?" I shake my head no. "Good." He plops down on the snowy ground, near the edge. "The cold doesn't bother me too much either." I join him.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well," He rubs the back of his head. "I, uh, I..." He growls. "Why is this so hard to say?!" I stay silent and patiently wait. "I have finally figured out my feelings." He says slowly.

"And...?" I prompt, nervous about what he might say.

"And I like... Amy." Amy's name is barely audible. I grin, both relieved and amused.

"I had a suspicion." I smirk. "What took you so long to figure that out?" He looks sideways at me.

"I dunno. I guess the thought of being tied down in a relationship scared me. So, instead of trying it out, I just avoided anything related to relationships as much as I could, including my feelings for Amy. I buried them so deep that I forgot what I actually felt for her and believed her to be nothing but a friend.

"Then you came around. It's been years since the last time I felt attraction to another girl, and you were very pretty. I thought that now that I'm older, maybe a relationship wouldn't be so bad, but you turned me down, and rightfully so. Then you told me how to organize my feelings. I not only realized the shallowness in what I felt for you, but I also rediscovered my buried feelings for Amy. I couldn't find one thing that was wrong with her. Not even her death-grip hugs." He smirks softly.

"I didn't dare tell anyone, especially her, my feelings. After all the pain I put her through? After I constantly turned her down, stood her up on a couple of our 'dates', and Eggman always kidnapping her just because she's important to me? I don't deserve her, and she doesn't deserve me." He lowers his ears in shame. I glare at him.

"What is it with you males thinking you know what's best for us girls? '_Oh she doesn't deserve a jerk like me_'." I mock a guy's voice. "Well maybe we like that jerk more than you know. Maybe being with that jerk would've made our lives that much better. But do you guys ever think of that? Nooooo. You just think you know everything." I huff.

"Well geez, don't get too worked up there. Besides, it looks like she's moving on anyway. I heard about her and Shadow's date tonight. Who'd a thought? Shadow." He chuckles forcefully and gazes painfully off into the distance. "She'll be safe with him."

I look at the view before me, not sure what to say. Normally, I'd tell Sonic to forget the other guy and just tell her how he feels, but the other guy is my best friend and also deserves to happy with Amy.

"I don't know what to tell you." I finally say. "I care for both you and Shadow, and I don't want either of you to get hurt. I guess my advice to you would be to let Amy choose who would make her happy, not you." He takes a deep breath and sighs.

"I figured you'd say something like that." He gives me a small smile. "I mainly just needed to get this off my chest. Tails is too young to be dealing with this type of thing, and everyone else would give me non-stop crap. It was eating me alive."

"Well I'm glad you chose me to share this with, even if I'm the last choice." I smirk.

"Heh." He grins sheepishly. "Just so we're clear though: don't tell anyone about this."

"Of course not."

"Thanks." He sighs heavily, steam billowing out of his mouth. "It's just hard. I want her to be happy, even if that means it's not with me. You're lucky you don't have to go through this." I look at him. He doesn't have to know everything. I look back over the cliff.

"I already am." I release a sigh of my own, no steam emerging. Just add it to the list of weird, unnatural things about me.

"What?" I see him look at me from the corner of my eye, bewildered.

"I gained Shadow's friendship, but I got too close. He doesn't even know." I smile sadly.

"What is this? '_Love Shadow_' month?" He shakes his head, then looks back at me. "Aren't you going to tell him?"

"No. You forget I can go back home at anytime, and Shadow has gone through enough in his life. He doesn't deserve the heartbreak that will follow if I suddenly leave. So I will stay as his friend, looking out for his well-being." I tell him. That's what I used to think before the Dark and Light powers anyway. I look at him. "Also, he is obviously more interested in Amy, not me."

Sonic looks away and lowers his head in thought. Then he lifts his head and looks back at me.

"Well, we're just going to have to form a club then. _The Hidden_\- for the people with hidden, unreturned feelings for another." Sonic gestures at an imaginary sign. "We can even have a secret handshake!" I chuckle.

"I call president."

"Hey! No fair!"

"You can be Vice President, that way if I do leave, you can take over." I smirk at him. He sighs dramatically.

"Fine, I guess." Then he turn serious. "Hopefully that doesn't happen though." I look away.

"That'd be nice." I lowly say. We sit there, watching the city and trees glisten with snow. Sonic suddenly jumps up.

"No more of this serious talk. We've got until late afternoon to hang out, and I've already thought up some things for us to do." He grins mischievously. Standing, I smirk at him.

"Then let's go."

**XXXXX**

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

"Where on earth is she? She texted me that she be here soon! Time is wasting!" Rouge crosses her arms impatiently while sitting on my couch. Rouge and Rose arrived at 4, right in the dot, and only five minutes has passed. Amara better get back soon, otherwise I will go out and find her myself.

"What could she and Sonic be doing that would take this long?" I detect a hint of jealousy in Rose's voice. Understandable though, considering how Faker never gave more than an hour of his time to her.

I try to ignore the two females as they wait impatiently. '_... you deserve to be happy too? I think you do, and you know Maria would as well._' Would I be happy? I guess I do feel lighter when I am around Rose, but not as light as I feel with Amara, starting two days ago. Is that supposed to mean something? I do not think so. I think it is just because we are close friends now. I still feel the urge to be near Rose, and I would not feel that if I felt something more for Amara.

The front door suddenly opens, breaking my train-of-thought, and a grinning Amara steps in, a large and light blue stuffed-animal-bunny in her arms.

"Sorry! Time went quicker than I thought." She smiles apologetically at Rouge and Rose.

"Have a nice time?" I sneer. It is no wonder why Faker continues to pester Amara; how can he take the hint if she keeps accepting his proposals to 'hang out'? Faker is not smart enough to only see it as hanging out like she does.

She glares at me. "As a matter of fact, I did. I've finally gotten the chance to actually know him, and I can now confidently say Sonic's a great friend of mine."

"I am sure he will say the same." I say sarcastically. Her jaw tightens in annoyance.

"Yep." Her gaze flicks over to Rouge and Rose. "Ready to start whenever you two are."

"We've been ready for a while now!" Rouge huffs as she stands and starts to push Amara to her room, Rose following.

"Didn't you guys get here about five minutes ago though?" Her door closes, muffling their voices.

Finally. It's not completely quiet, but I will take it. I turn on the television. I would go out back and practice the chaos powers, but it always leaves me a little weary. Rose would not appreciate that during dinner tonight, so I guess I will sit here and watch television until it's time for me to get ready.

Which, unlike girls, will only take me half an hour. Maximum.

**XXXXX**

"Almost ready Shadow!" Rose calls out from Amara's room. It's 6:35. Not bad. I hear footsteps approach and I look up. There Rose stands, wearing a sparkling red, one inch shoulder-strapped dress with its skirt flaring out and reaching down to below her knees. She is has red high heels to match the outfit.

"You look beautiful Rose." I smile softly at her. She blushes.

"Thank you Shadow." She puts on her white winter coat she had draped around her arm, which I didn't even notice. I put on my own black one. Rose comes up to me, taking my arm. "Shall we?" She smiles at me.

"Don't be out too late Shadykins!" Amara shouts teasingly from within her room. I hear Rouge bust out laughing, Rose giggling as well. Amara suddenly yells, "Hey! Watch it! You almost took my eye out with that thing Rouge!"

I shake my head and lead the still-giggling Rose outside.

"So, are you going to tell me where we're going?" Rose bats her eyelashes at me.

"No. You will just have to wait and see." I smirk.

"Fine." She fake-pouts. We walk up to my motorcycle.

"Which would you prefer? Teleport, or ride my motorcycle there?" I ask her, aware that motorcycles do not really appeal to girls like Rose. Amara's awe-filled face when she first saw the motorcycle suddenly flashes in my mind.

"We can take the motorcycle." Rose tries to shrug casually. I see fear in her eyes, but I also see curiosity.

"Very well." I hop on the bike and hand her a helmet. "Hang on." I tell her once she is seated, and I drive off. I drive five miles below the speed limit, making sure not to worry Rose. It isn't long before we arrive to the restaurant called _Jannet's Dream_.

"_Jannet's Dream_?" Rose gapes once we pull into up to the front. "I haven't been in here yet." She says breathless as the valet goes to park my motorcycle, who I made sure received my warning glare.

"Reservations for Shadow." I say to the entrance-greeter after they take our coats.

"Of course. Follow Grant here to your table and enjoy your evening." She smiles and gestures to the gray hawk to her right. Grant leads us to a table next to a glass wall, the view of the city lights twinkling in the night on the other side of it. We order our drinks.

"As a token of our appreciation to the heroes of Mobius, your dinner is on us." Grant smiles at us.

"Thank you very much." Rose smiles at him. Grant's gaze flicks over to me before he smiles back and leaves. "You should've said thank you, Shadow." Rose scolds.

"I am getting tired of all the '_thank you_'s we keep getting. Once is enough." I say, indifferent. Rose sighs and shakes her head.

"Do you know why they named this place _Jannet's Dream_?"

"No." I do not really care. Just as long as they have good service.

"The guy that owns this restaurant used to have a wife named Jannet, and it was her dream to own a fancy restaurant. When they were close to saving enough money to make it possible, however, Jannet ended up having cancer and died a few months after finding out. The husband decided to keep saving and achieve their goal, just for her. Isn't that sweet?" Rose blinks, trying to dry her teary eyes.

"Quite thoughtful of him." I nod. She nods back. She grabs her menu, and I do the same.

"So, how's training going?" She asks as we browse our menus.

"Well enough. I am learning a lot, but not enough to locate the girl yet."

"I wonder if she's aware of her powers." Amy ponders out loud.

"That is one of the things I have learned. She is aware of her powers, just as she is aware that if she uses her powers the same time I do, I will be able to sense and find her."

"I hope she knows at least why she has those powers. Poor thing. I can't imagine coming to a different world, having powerful powers, and being searched for by both good and bad guys." Rose's face falls with sympathy. "Have you given any thought to the prophecy?"

"I have. Obviously, the one named for darkness and who controls both chaos powers is me. I am supposed to be the main reason why Dovarian escapes his prison, and I also am supposed to '_serve and obey_' him." I snort. "As if. As for girl's part in the prophecy, she will have to choose between either saving the world or joining her love on the dark side. Hmm..." I rub my chin. "Maybe we should also look for couples, in case she has already found her love."

"That widened the search to just about anybody." Rose smirks. "You know what I noticed though? Amara's from another world, and she's our age..."

"You are right." I look out the window and think. "I do not think she is the girl though. She definitely would have mentioned something to me. Maybe she was close to the girl and got transported here along with her. I will ask her about it anyway though." A waitress approaches us and we order. Rose ordered the spaghetti while I the chicken alfredo.

"You and Amara are pretty close, huh?" Amy asks with a small smile once the waitress is gone. I shrug.

"Yes." Vague answer, but there are too many reasons as to why we are: her patience, her understanding, her persistence, her ability to spot light in dark places, her honesty, and many other reasons like that.

"Are you closer than you were with Maria?" I eye Rose wearily, not sure what this has to do with anything.

"I would say about the same. Maria had some things Amara does not have, and Amara has some things Maria did not have."

"How close are you and I then?" Ah. Now I see. She wants to know what I feel for her. Subtle, but obvious.

"Hmm." Do I want this? Am I worthy of her? Will this make me happy? "Well," I start. "You and I are not as close as Amara and I are, but we have the potential to get closer more than Amara and I could." I say. Rose smiles, a twinkle in her eye.

"I guess we should start working on that, huh?"

Before I can answer, Rose's eyes gaze behind me and widen in surprise. "Well! Isn't that a coincidence? Oh, and she looks just amazing! I knew we chose well." She smiles with pride. I look behind me to see who Rose is talking about...

... and see Cody with, taking me a couple seconds to recognize, Amara at his side.

**Review please!**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

**Sorry about this being late! I tried to get this ready by last Saturday, I really did. Ugh. Life. Hopefully I can make up with this longer-than-usual chapter! **

**Christian Wolf27, Seganumber1fan, TheJokingClown, Guest, WorldOfSpeed, thanks for the reviews!**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega.**

**Shadow's P.O.V.**

Amara is wearing a violet dress, its straps resting on her upper arms, rather than on her shoulders, and it hugs her torso. The bottom does not flare out and there are two mid-thigh slits on each side, making it so one cannot help but to notice her legs as she walks in her violet high heels with ankle straps. A waterfall of brown curls cascades down her back instead of her usual straight hair, and she has on just enough makeup to accent certain facial features. All in all, she looks classy, like Rose, but also revealing enough to be modern, like Rouge.

I watch as a waitress leads Amara and Cody to their table, which is at the other side of the room.

"Shadow?" I turn back around and meet Rose's concerned gaze. "You okay? You look a little annoyed." I unclench my fist that I did not even know I had clenched and sigh.

"I am fine Rose. I was really hoping it would be just you and me tonight." While that was my hopes, it is not the real reason for my irritation. To be honest, I do not really know why the arrival of Cody and Amara irks me so. I must be worried about Amara's well-being. There is something about that guy that makes me feel like he cannot be trusted, that he is not good enough for her.

Rose smiles softly. "It's alright Shadow. They haven't even noticed us, so it's still just us." At this time our food arrives. "Mmm! Doesn't this smell delicious?" Rose eyes her spaghetti hungrily as it is being set down in front of her.

"It does smell appetizing." I admit. I glance at Amara's table and catch Cody's eyes. I see a flash of surprise, then he gives me a small, sly grin. What? A waiter directs Cody's attention to him and I turn my attention back to my dinner. I do not like that look he gave me.

"What do you think of Cody?" I ask Rose, twirling my pasta around my fork.

"Well, I think he's a nice guy. Also not too bad looking. Why?"

"I do not like him." I state. "He does not seem trustworthy."

"Shadow." Rose rolls her eyes. "No one seems trustworthy to you. I don't even have all your trust." She looks down at her food. "I bet Amara does though." I rub my temple. I am doing what Amara told me not to do: ruin the dinner with my mood.

"I am sorry Rose. I will 'lighten up'." I give her a small smile. Her eyes flash with surprise before smiling back at me.

"It's alright Shadow." I forgot she is not used to seeing any kind of my smiles. I find it annoying when people get all worked up over something as simple as some muscles pulling up your lips. Amara does not fret over the smiles I do show her, not even in the beginning.

"So how are things between you and Faker?" I ask, curious to know how he is handling the change in their relationship.

"I don't know." Her eyebrows scrunch up. "I thought after accepting Sonic as just a friend that he would actually spend more time with, or at least around, me, but he still doesn't hang out with me and 'coincidentally' has to leave almost every time I come around! Maybe I scared him off and he doesn't want to even be friends with me now." Her ears droop and her eyes begin to water.

"I am sure that is not the case Rose." I say as comfortingly as I can, which is not very much, but it is apparently enough to affect her. "It has almost been a week since you told him you wanted to be friends, and you do have a history of relapsing into the obsessive fangirl. I am sure Faker is only being cautious for if that should be the case."

"You're right. I need to give him time. I've certainly given Sonic a reason to be wary." She grimaces. "It's just hard to wait sometimes." She sighs.

"So I have seen." I smirk. She teasingly glares at me. Classical music suddenly fills the room. I look around and spot a small orchestral band located near the front of this large dining room. A couple stands and walks over to the clearing in front of the band and begin to dance. Other couples follow suit.

"May I have this dance?" I hold out my hand to Rose. She beams.

"Why yes, you may." She places her hand in mine and we walk over to the dance area. I take her right hand in mine and we begin to waltz. Rose gracefully dances to the music, not needing my assistance at all. The memory of setting Amara on my feet while I danced at Rouge's Club flashes in my mind.

Like thinking of her summoned her, I spot Amara and Cody dancing nearby. They are doing the simple slow dance, stepping side to side, with Amara's back facing Rose and me. Cody locks eyes with me again, and, with that same grin from earlier, he pulls Amara closer to him, practically cheek-to-cheek with her now. Feeling my jaw involuntary clench, I look away and try to focus my attention back to Rose.

"Aw, don't they look cute?" Rose coos at the pair. So much for trying to focus on something else. An idea suddenly forms in my head and I act on it. Drawing the powers from the emerald I keep within my quills, I send one of the dark tendrils to trip Cody. He slams to the ground on his back. We, and the surrounding people, stop and look at the downed tiger in amusement.

While everyone around him chuckles, Amara is the only one to immediately ask him if he's alright. After she sees his bewildered look, however, she bursts out laughing. I haven't heard her laugh this hard since that 'laugh attack'...

"It's not funny." I hear him snap at her. She ceases her laughter and frowns at him as he hoists himself up. I start to go over there to punch him for snapping at her. If I, the Ultimate Lifeform, can find the humor in myself falling, then he should be able to as well.

"Hold it Shadow." Rose grabs my arm, obviously aware of my intentions. "Let her handle it." We watch as Amara and Cody make their way back to their table, annoyance clearly on her face.

"Maybe you're right," Rose says as we make our way back to our own table. "maybe Cody isn't that great of a guy. Sonic wouldn't of snapped at me like that."

"When am I ever wrong?" I arch an eyebrow at her as we take our seats.

"Oh, sorry Mr. Ultimate Lifeform." She says dramatically. She gets a thoughtful look. "You know, it kind of looked like something tripped Cody, but nothing was there..."

"Just because you cannot see the powers does not mean they are not there." I point out. Her eyes widen.

"You did that?" I nod.

"In my training, I have recently succeeded in controlling the powers to do physical tasks."

"How does your training work? You don't have an instructor." Rose leans forward in fascination.

"I do, in a way. The powers themselves have memories, and they reveal these memories to show me what I should and should not do. Most of the memories they show me are from my past lives, actually."

"Really? Were you the same as you are now?"

"For the most part. I don't know very much about my past lives, I just know that I looked the same as I do now, that my name has always been Shadow, and that I spent most of my time alone." Not much of a difference.

"That sounds pretty lonely." Rose looks at me sadly. I shrug.

"What is done is done."

Rose shakes her head. "I guess."

Rose and I continued to make small talk and catch up on things for the rest of our time there. We ended up ordering desert as well. Rose nearly died with delight at the sight of her chocolate cheese cake. I saw from the corner of my eye Amara and Cody leave not too long after our waiter took our dessert order. I refrained from fully looking at them, even when I felt Cody's eyes on me.

Now 9 o'clock, I have Rose back home. I walk her to her front door. She turns to me once we reach her door.

"Thank you, Shadow, for the wonderful evening." She smiles warmly at me.

"You are quite welcome Rose." I give her a small, soft smile. Regardless of the Cody issues, I actually had a nice time tonight. Rose steps forward, standing on her tippytoes, and pecks a kiss on my cheek. "See you later." She quickly retreats into her house. I feel heat rush up to my cheeks. Hmm, not too bad of a feeling. I turn and go home.

Once I get home, I go to my room, seeing light seep from under Amara's bedroom door. At least I do not have to wait up for her now. Not tired, I decide to train, since I did not get to train earlier today. Pulling out a chaos emerald, I call the powers out to continue where I left off: learning the basics of casting spells. This time, however, something is different. I can sense her. She is close, she- and just as quickly as it took me to notice her, her essence is gone.

"Agh." I growl. If I only had a few more seconds, I could have pinpointed her exact location! At least I now know she is indeed in this world and is close to this area.

**XXXXX**

**Amara's P.O.V.**

Ugh, the ride home was really awkward. This date started out really well; Cody was nothing but a gentleman. But then he started acting strange. Once I caught him with this weird grin, and then he, without warning, pulled me closer to him while we were dancing. I really had to fight the urge to push him away. He also snapped at me, something I didn't expect nor appreciate him doing. I had to force all the smiles on my face after that. Cody also asked me some questions about Shadow, like 'is he competitive?' or 'is it easy to rile him up?'. I still don't know why he'd need to know that.

I snap out of my thoughts once Cody and I reach my front door. "Well, here we are." He says, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Yep." I clasp my hands, trying to figure out how to let him know there isn't anything between us without hurting him. "Listen Cody, I, uh-"

"Hang on." He raises his hand in a stopping motion. "I need to let you know something before you finish that sentence."

"Uh, okay?" I arch an eyebrow.

"I like you Amara, I do, but not enough to make a dating relationship out of this." He gestures between us. "To be honest, I asked you out not just because you seem like a nice girl, but also because it seemed to irritate Shadow. Not just anyone can irritate him, and someone needs to let him know he's not as important as he thinks he is." Cody scrunches up his face in annoyance. "But I think I did a good-enough job of letting him know that." He raises his chin with pride.

"What makes you think that?" I can't hold back my glare, but he doesn't even notice.

"I saw the look on his face when he saw us dancing." He answers.

"Wait, he was there?" I ask, surprised. Now that I think about it, Cody's foot did look like something grabbed it...

"Oh yeah, with your friend Amy. Lucky coincidence actually." He rubs his chin. So that's why he wanted to know those things about Shadow; he wanted to annoy him as much as he could. Cody face softens at the frown on my face.

"I know you like me, more than I do you, and that this is probably hard for you to hear, but it's only fair that I let you know how I feel now rather than lie to you and hurt you more when I tell you later. But don't worry," he grabs my hand, looking at me in pity. "you'll find the right guy someday. It's just not me."

"Oh, I know." I say, pulling my hand away and catching him off guard. "I was just trying to figure out how to tell you that I'm not interested in having a relationship with you, but it seems you've already beaten me to it. Oh well." I shrug casually, hiding how annoyed I actually am. He used me, just to annoy Shadow.

"You don't need to lie and mask your pain, it's not healthy." Cody says, still oblivious.

"Oh Cody." I sigh, taking my turn to look at him in pity. "Someday you'll find a woman who will love you, regardless of how full of yourself you are." I pat him on the shoulder. "I wish you, and her, luck." I turn my back to him and go inside, leaving a stunned tiger behind.

"Yeesh." I exhale once the door is closed. Didn't see that one coming. The house is still dark and quiet, meaning Shadow is still with Amy. I wonder if they're still at the restaurant. Well, I hope they're enjoying themselves. I really do.

Once I'm in my bedroom, I get ready for bed, but not without taking one last look at the woman Rouge and Amy had turned me into. They really did a great job. With everything. I sit on my bed after I finish getting ready for bed and prepare myself for training. I start warming up by having the powers do physical tasks like retrieving a couple books. To my pleasure, I have actually retained what I learned last night and I have even improved. I can feel I'm close to mastering this. I bet I can retrieve my whole bookshelf if I really focused.

I hear Shadow's motorcycle from outside. I listen as he walks down the hallway, not sure if he'll want to talk and ask me how my night went. I hear him go into his bedroom. I guess not then. I focus back on my bookshelf.

Just as I am about to attempt to lift the bookshelf, I suddenly sense something, or rather, someone...

Shadow!

I quickly release my hold over the powers, hoping it's not too late. Still as a statue, I listen for any sign of Shadow bursting in here, demanding why I kept this secret from him. I wait for a few minutes. Nothing.

Finally letting myself relax, I collapse on my bed. That was way too close. I jump as I hear knocking on my door. I spoke too soon.

"Come in." I try saying casually. Shadow opens the door.

"I am not disturbing you, am I?" He asks. I shake my head. He walks in.

"What is it?" Please please pl-

"I almost found the girl Overseer." He states.

"Almost?"

"When the both of us use our powers at the same time, we can sense and locate the other. Just five minute ago we both were using our powers, but she stopped immediately, preventing me from knowing exactly where she is. I do know that she is in this world and very close. No farther than outside the city." He couldn't sense me? Me, who is right across the hall from him? I shouldn't question the luck I just received.

"At least you know that much." I try to say positively.

"Hmm." He simply shrugs. "Rose and I talked earlier and came to the conclusion of looking at couples when searching for the girl as well. The prophecy mentions her love being on the dark side, so she might have already found her love."

"Very possible." I agree.

"Also," he leans against my wall and crosses his arms. "Rose pointed out to me how you are from another world and how you are about the right age for the girl." I still.

"Well that's uncanny."

"Are you the girl Overseer?" He asks, straight to the point, looking directly into my eyes. I make sure not to hesitate.

"If I was, don't you think I would've found a way to get myself home already? Being the girl Overseer would mean a Dark power would be responsible for my being here, so then it would also mean it could get me back as well. Trust me, I've thought about it. If I were the girl Overseer, I would've found a way home by now." I say, loopholes everywhere making it so I'm still not lying. I'm not denying that I am the girl Overseer, and I have already figured out a way to get home, I just have to do the necessary things to achieve it.

"I had to make sure. As you said earlier, the things you have in common with the girl are 'uncanny'." He buys my answer, not realizing I didn't actually answer.

"It's alright, I understand." I smile, despite the guilt swarming inside me. I would tell him, but I'm too selfish and weak. I can't be transported to another world, I just can't. He nods before getting a thoughtful look on his face.

"I have forgotten about your true home. Once I have completely mastered my powers and found the girl, I am sure I can transport you back home. That is, if you still wish that?" He looks at me questioningly, with hope hiding in his eyes.

"I still want to go home." I smile sadly, my heart breaking. I see disappointment and sadness flash in his eyes before he hides it, worsening the ache in my chest, and he nods in acknowledgement.

"Very well. I will send you home after I find the girl."

"Okay." I still have no choice but to secretly transport myself back home. The whole point of transporting myself back is so Shadow won't know my secret until it's too late, and so that I can go back to my family rather than being transported to another unfamiliar world. Also, I know I can't handle saying goodbye to everyone when I leave this world, whether I'm going back to my old world or a new one.

"So," Shadow asks after a few moments of silence passes. "how was your date with Cody?" He sneers Cody's name.

"Fine, until you tripped him." I shrug casually. He widens his eyes in surprise. I continue. "I actually didn't know you and Amy were there until Cody told me when he took me home. Then I thought about it and I remembered looking down when Cody tripped and seeing his foot jerk to the side, like something grabbed him. I thought about your training and about how it could be possible for you to do that. I actually wasn't sure if you tripped him until I saw the surprise on your face after I said it." That was all truth. I wasn't sure how far along Shadow was in his training, so I wasn't sure if he actually did trip him until now.

"You still manage to surprise me." He shakes his head with a smirk. I grin.

"He deserved it." I shrug. Shadow questionably raises an eyebrow at me. I tell him about the rest of my night after he tripped Cody.

"Nice." He chuckles after I tell him the last thing I said to Cody. "Polite, but also with enough venom to sting. I told you he was no good." He says smugly.

"What do you want from me? A round of applause?" I scowl at him.

"How about 'Shadow was right and I was wrong'?" He smirks.

"Fine. Shadow was right an I was wrong. There, happy now?" I huff.

"I am content." His face turns serious. "I am sorry your evening did not turn out so well. If it is worth anything, he does not deserve you."

"You've got that right. After three hours of preparation, he only said I was 'pretty'!" I exclaim dramatically, trying to lighten up his mood. I'm long over it, but he apparently feels bad.

"That is preposterous. Even 'beautiful' would do no justice for how you looked tonight." He looks at me with the first warm full-smile he's ever given me. I feel myself blushing as I register his words and hold his gaze, my heart swelling with delight.

Noticing that we're staring at each other now, he looks away. Once he breaks his gaze away, reality comes crashing down on me. I am leaving this world soon, and Shadow only sees me as a friend. He just said that to make me feel better.

"How was your date with Amy?" I change the subject. He looks back at me with his usual indifferent look.

"It went well." I sit there, waiting for him to elaborate. He doesn't.

"That's it? I told you about my night but you won't tell me yours? That's not fair!" I pout.

"I did not ask you about your night, I just asked you how it went." He shrugs.

"Fine. I'll ask Amy. She'll give me more details anyways. Especially all the moments when you were cute." I dismiss with a mischievous smirk. His ear twitches in irritation, realizing that Amy will tell me a lot more than he could've told me, and that I will use what I'll learn against him.

"Whatever." He walks out of my room.

"Night Shadykins!" I call out to him before he slams his bedroom door shut. Chuckling, I turn off my lights and climb into bed. No way will I risk being sensed by Shadow again by continuing my training right now, so I might as well go to bed. Shadow's remark still plagues my mind, regardless of how he only said it as a friend. It's messed up how only a few words from him can either make or ruin my day. In this case, it definitely made it.

**Review please!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

**I'm going camping tomorrow, so I figured I'd update earlier rather than later. :)**

**Seganumber1fan****, thanks for the review!**

***~X~* (A flashback)**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

"You ready to go Shadow?" I hear Amara call from her bedroom.

"I have been ready." I call back from the living room, rolling my eyes. She walks into the room and it is like deja vu. She is wearing the blue polka-dotted dress Rose gave to her the first day she arrived to this world. She grabs her present from the couch and walks over to me.

"Can we take the motorcycle this time?" She asks, eyes lit up with excitement. I smirk at her with amusement.

"Sure." We walk out to my black motorcycle and I secure our presents to the back of the bike. After she hops on I take off, driving off to Vanilla's house to celebrate Cream's 14th birthday. As I drive, my thoughts wander back to the issue that has been plaguing my mind for the past ten days.

***~X~***

I stand in my back yard, practicing casting small spells. I have not sensed the girl since that first time, two days ago, and it is frustrating. I still have a lot of training to do before I can track her down, so I have to deal with it until then.

"_Shadow_."

I tense. I know that voice. Suddenly my mind is plunged back into the same darkness from the last time I heard that voice.

"_Hello again, Shadow_."

"Dovarian." I say cooly. He chuckles.

"_I never have been able to introduce myself to you. You have always figured it out first._"

"Then maybe you should not make it so obvious."

"_Hmm. The time has come for my favor, Shadow._" I narrow my eyes.

"What is it?"

"_I need your oath for when you hear me say 'transform', you will transform, whether you want to or not, into your Overseer form, or as you call it, superlative form._"

"That is all?" I ask, wary. Something definitely does not feel right about this. I expected him to ask that I use my powers and release him, making it so he just needs the girl Overseer to release him. What does he have planned?

"_Yes. Remember the consequences if you refuse to do this?_"

"She and I will die." I answer, not sure if he knows Amara's name. I am not willing to risk it if he does not. A thought hits me. "I will be reborn when I die, however, and she said she went to her own personal heaven when she died. Maybe we are better off dead." She would at least be safe.

"_True that you will be reborn, but that does not mean I cannot torture her soul. If I have the power to bring her back to life, do you not think I have the power to put her in hell too?_"

He could be bluffing, but he makes a valid point. I am only risking a temporary death for myself, while I risk eternal torture for Amara. It is a possibility I cannot take. I growl lowly to myself and summon some Chaos powers to enforce the oath.

"I, Shadow the hedgehog, hereby swear that I will immediately transform into my Overseer form once you say 'transform', with or without my consent." I say with clenched teeth, trapped.

"_Very good. Your training is paying off._" He chuckles darkly. "_Until next time, Shadow_." The darkness fades and I am back in my backyard. What have I done?

***~X~***

Ten days later, and I am still asking myself that question. I do not regret agreeing just to protect Amara, instead, I regret not being able to let her go and accept her death. Then I would not of had a reason to make that deal with him in the first place, ensuring the upper hand we had over him. Now, because of my actions, I might very well be the cause of Dovarian's escape.

I pull into Vanilla's driveway and shut off the bike. After we step off the bike and retrieve our presents, we walk to Vanilla's front door.

"Hello dears. I'm so pleased to see that you came. Thank you." She smiles warmly at us after she opens the door.

"Well of course we did!" Amara smiles brightly at her. We walk into the cozy home, a table full of presents set off to the right. We set our presents down and find the rest of the group in the living room.

"Shadow!" Rose jumps up and skips over to me, taking my hand in hers. As far as I know, Rose and I are not dating, despite Amara's constant teasing, we are just spending more time together. "I saved you a seat!" She leads me over to a tan couch.

"Yo, wut up Amara?" Faker walks up to Amara.

"S'up Sonic?" She grins and they do their handshake. I asked her what the point of it was and she only told me that it was for a secret club she and Sonic started. I thought she meant it as a joke, but they actually meet up twice a week for their '_meetings_'. No one else knows a thing about their club. Amara takes a seat on a kitchen chair that was brought out, seated between Rouge and Cream.

"Well that dress brings back some memories." Rouge eyes Amara's dress.

"I know, I just felt like wearing it." She shrugs, an emotion flashing in her eyes too fast for me to confirm. Sorrow?

"Alright Cream," Rose turns to the young rabbit. "what do you want to do first?"

"Well, how about Would You Rather?" Everyone, except for me, nods their heads and makes sounds of agreement. The chao, Cheese, flies around Cream's head excitedly.

"You go first Hun." Rouge tells Cream.

"Okay. Would you guys rather be fast like Mr. Sonic or have telekinesis like Mr. Silver?"

"Speed. I've always loved how the world looks when going that fast." Rose sighs dreamily.

"I am just as fast as Faker, so I might as well try out telekinesis." I shrug. If this was anyone else's birthday party, I would refuse to play, but the innocent rabbit has always made me feel guilty when I refuse her small, also innocent, requests. Faker scoffs at my answer.

"I'd go for speed, then I can finally catch and pound Sonic into the ground!" Knuckles smiles at the thought. I smirk as well, knowing he is not kidding.

"Well, never gonna happen Knux!" Faker smirks at him. He takes his turn before the echidna can yell at him. "I'm good! Speed is all I need!" Faker clasps his hands behind his head with that cocky smirk of his.

"Hmm, I could find good uses for both of them." Tails rubs his chin thoughtfully. "I would take... telekinesis. Then I wouldn't have to squeeze into tiny spaces to fix things."

"Obviously I'd go for speed, since I already have telekinesis." Silver smugly says.

"Oh great, you'd be more troublesome." Blaze rolls her eyes. "I would take telekinesis so Silver can finally stop levitating me when I least expect it." She glares at him. He gets a sheepish grin.

"I'd take speed. Can you imagine all the jewels I could steal and get away with?" Rouge sighs dreamily.

"Not my emerald, bat." Knuckles growls at her.

"Especially that one." She grins slyly at him.

"I'd go for telekinesis." Amara interrupts before the echidna and bat start one of their infamous arguments. "I've always wanted to move things with my mind."

"I would like to have speed like Mr. Sonic. I could get flowers from anywhere in the world!" Cream smiles with excitement.

"Okay, my turn!" Rose claps. "Would you guys rather get married or get claimed? For the guys, claim someone?" The guys groan; Leave it to Rose to bring romance into a game.

"Claim?" Amara ask with a look of confusion.

"Claim is when a male bites the female with her permission, claiming her as his. It's a lot more serious than marriage, it is literally '_until death do you part_'. For that reason, it's not very common anymore." Rouge explains. Amara nods in understanding.

"Shadow, you're first." Rose pokes me.

"Pass." I say. A look of disappointment crosses Rose's face. I cannot imagine either of those options for myself right now, so I refuse to answer.

"Uhh, pass." Knuckles shifts uncomfortably.

"Diddo." Sonic rubs the back of his head.

"W-well, as long as she's the one for me, whatever makes her happy." Tails says quickly and blushes.

"I agree with Tails." Silver answers while wrapping his arm around Blaze. The cat blushes.

"I can live with just marriage." Blaze shrugs, still blushing.

"Definitely just marriage." Rouge flicks her wrist. "I'd like to have the option of divorcing incase things don't work out." Knuckles quietly snorts.

"I'd be fine with both, but if I had to chose one, I would go with getting claimed." Amara answers. "If I'm sure enough to marry him, then letting him claim me shouldn't be a problem."

"I agree with Miss Amara, except if I had to chose one I would go with marriage." Cream answers.

"As romantic as being claimed sounds, I would choose marriage." Rose says, surprising us all. "Claiming is a big decision, one that I don't think anyone can truly be sure about. Even if they are sure they've found 'the one'." I notice as she unsurprisingly gives Faker a quick, pained look. What does surprise me, though, is that Faker returns the look, no one else but me noticing.

"Anyways, your turn Shadow." Rouge smirks at me. Vanilla walks into the room.

"Lunch is ready." She announces. We file into the kitchen for the home-made stew, the game forgotten.

"Saved by lunch." Amara elbows my side as she walks by.

"Indeed." After we are all seated back down with our bowls, Faker speaks up, his mouth full of stew.

"So, how's the training goin' Shads?" I shoot him a glare.

"Another day or so and I will be able to begin my search for the girl Overseer." I answer.

"Has she used her powers the same time as you again?" Tails asks.

"Yes, but she recently did something to prevent me from locating her. I can still sense her, but I cannot tell where she is like I could the first time." I say, frustrated. I have sensed her everyday for the past five days now, but I have been unable to sense if she is still close or not.

"Then how are you going to find her?" Blaze arches an eyebrow.

"In a couple days my powers should be advanced enough to naturally sense other power Users, especially her. It is one thing that no spell can stop, so I will have to travel around and find her the hard way."

"Yikes." Amara grimaces. I smirk at her.

"That is in another two days, however. I will still be able to come to your concert tomorrow night."

"WHAT?! A CONCERT?!" Rose and Rouge yell and everyone whips their heads towards Amara, who flattens her ears.

"Umm, my band is having a concert tomorrow." She explains, ears flattening.

"And we're hearing this just now because...?" Rouge narrows her eyes at her.

"Because I thought it wasn't a big deal?" She nervously says.

"Big deal or not, we'd still like to watch you play!" Faker jumps in, also glaring at her.

"Okay okay! I'm sorry! I promise to inform you guys of any future performances I have, okay?" She holds up her hands in surrender.

"You better." Rouge threatens before turning back to her stew. Once everyone turns their attention away from her, Amara glares at me. I smirk. That is what she gets for not telling anyone. She did not even tell me. I found out yesterday from a glimpse at one of her text messages. It read, _'wear all black clothing to concert tomorrow_'. After I confronted her about it, she admitted she did have a concert and that she did not want to trouble anyone by asking them to go. I did not scold her. Instead, I decided to let the others do that for me.

The door suddenly bursts open. "Sorry we're late!" Vector comes in, followed by Espio and Charmy. "Somebody here hid Cream's present and forgot where he hid it!" He glares pointedly at the bee.

"I had to make sure you wouldn't steal my idea!" Charmy glares back at him.

"Yeah," he scoffs. "like I'd ever take one of your fabulous ideas. Oh hello Miss Vanilla!" Vector straightens up and says loudly as the rabbit enters the room. "How are you?"

"I am well, Vector, thank you for asking. It looks like you boys are just in time for Cream to open her presents."

"Sweet! Open mine first Cream!" Charmy buzzes over to the young rabbit, a small teal box in his hands. She opens it and reveals a handmade friendship bracelet.

"Oh I love it! Thanks Charmy!" She hugs him, making him grin sheepishly.

Judging from the amount of presents she received, I would say Cream is the most adored in this group. It also makes it that much harder to find a gift for her. I was going to give her a card with some money, but Amara refused to allow it after finding out, and she suggested I should paint something like a field of flowers for her. I found a patch of daisies by a creek and thought it suitable. I did not expect the squeal of delight Cream made and everyone's gawking after she opened it, though. I refused to tell them the artist, and Amara stayed silent as well.

"Time for the birthday cake!" Vanilla smiles from the kitchen doorway.

"Yeah! Cake!" Silver dashes into the kitchen, quickly followed by others. Just a few more hours of this before I can go.

**XXXXX**

**Amara's P.O.V. **

I talked Shadow into staying for dinner, not quite ready to leave Vanilla's house. Sonic, Amy, Shadow, and I were the last ones to leave. As we were leaving, I heard Sonic ask Amy if he could walk her home and that he needed to talk to her. He gave me a grim, nervous smile as they were walking away. Looks like _The Hidden_ will be no more. I just hope that whoever Amy chooses, that the other will be okay. Especially if it's Sonic she chooses, because Shadow will have a lot to deal with after tonight.

Tonight is the night I have to go back to Earth. It's the reason why I didn't tell anyone about my concert; I wasn't even going to be there for it, but Shadow just had to see that stupid text from Noah. I have finally reached the point in my training where I am strong enough to transport myself back. I have already casted my location spell, explaining why Shadow can't sense my location now. I can't even stall for time. Shadow said he will be able to begin his search for me in two days, and, knowing him, his senses will probably be developed by tomorrow night, ending my chance to leave undetected.

So all day today I hung out with all of my friends as much as I could, hiding the sorrow and pain inside me as I acted normally. I am lucky to know such wonderful people. I've even learned some new things today too, like claiming, and why the guys wear clothes now; puberty hits around the age of 16 in this world. Also, I found out that touching someone without wearing gloves is as significant and intimate as kissing someone. While I find that to be interesting, I still don't see why wearing the gloves 24/7 is necessary. Luckily, I'm used to them.

Now, here I sit: watching the time fly by as Shadow and I sit and watch TV. I can't reminisce nor say cryptic things with him like I did the others, that would raise his suspicions, so I am forced to absolute normalcy. I steal glances at him whenever I can, noticing his distant stare. He's been this distant for a little over a week now. Shadow stands and begins to head to his bedroom.

"Shadow." I call. He stops and turns. "You've been pretty preoccupied for the past week." I state. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. It is a personal matter." He crosses his arms.

"Well, just remember you have friends. They will always be there for you, no matter what." It's the closest I can get to saying goodbye without him noticing.

"I will keep that in mind." He says wearily, rubbing his temple.

"Well then, goodnight." I smile warmly, holding back the urge to cry. This is the last time I will see him.

"Goodnight. See you in the morning." He walks down the hall and into his bedroom. Unable to hold them back, I slowly let my tears leak out. I stand and take one last tour of the house, tidying up things as I go along, before I go to my room. I organize my room and I grab a picture from my dresser of the whole crew and me. I remove it from the frame and put it in a hidden pocket in my dress, remembering how my pajamas from Earth came with me here. I actually wore this dress today because it was the first piece of clothing I wore from this world, so it might as well be my last.

I look at the partially-melted snow outside my window, clouds blocking the moon. I've delayed this for as long as I could. I grab a piece of paper and leave a note, as well as my communicator and credit card, on my bed for Shadow to find in the morning. Taking one last look at my room, I open and crawl out of my window, and I make my way into the snowy woods.

Once I feel I am far away enough, I stop. I center myself and take a deep breath. I call upon the surrounding tendrils and orbs and I utter "Portal." The powers gather in one spot and begin to swirl. Faster and faster they spin, electricity from the amount of power present shoots out in bolts as the powers pick up speed, until a circular, dark gold portal is before me, still spiraling and cracking with electricity.

With new tears springing to my eyes, I walk towards it.

**XXXXX**

**Shadow's P.O.V. **

Something feels off. I cannot explain this feeling. It started after Amara and I got back from the birthday party. I was beginning to think Dovarian might make his move now, but I found it not to be the case after putting much thought in it. No one has found the girl Overseer yet, and he does not seem to know where she is either, otherwise he would have made me do a different '_favor_'. It would be impractical for him to strike now, whatever he has got planned. I then tried going to bed, thinking that I just might be tired from all the training I've done as of late, but even my body refused to settle down. I eventually gave up trying to rest and chaos controlled myself onto the roof to train. Watching the night sky and the sleeping world usually relaxes me, although clouds blanket the sky tonight.

Not long after I start my training I sense the girl again, still, to my frustration, unable to locate her. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I notice some white flashes from within the forest. The little sense that I have developed so far tells me the World powers are responsible for the flashes, and a lot of it. It is fairly close to my house...

'_They will always be there for you, no matter what_.' Why did she not say _'we'_? Following my instincts, I chaos control myself into Amara's room, not bothering myself with privacy, and I look around. She is not in here. I look at her bed and see her wrist communicator, her credit card, and a note.

'_I'm sorry.'_

Too many things click into place for me to just focus on one piece, but I do manage to understand one thing.

Amara is the girl Overseer.

I zoom outside and sprint to where I saw the flashes, no longer sensing her. Do not let it be too late. I let my senses take over and they lead me to the spot where she last used her powers.

"Amara!" I call out as I look around the trees for her.

She is nowhere in sight.

**Review please!**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

**I am going camping with my bestie tomorrow for a week, so there shall be no update next weekend. Also, I realized the end of this story is near! :,( **

**That being said...**

**_QUESTION FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE READERS_****: Should I write more Amara and Shadow stories like this? Once I have about 30 yeses I will write them. Until then, I will write Sonamy stories (Amara and Shadow will appear in some of them, but it won't be focused on them like this story is, unless I get those yeses...). Review or PM me your answers! I am going to see if I can get the polls working too.**

**Seganumber1fan****, thanks for the review!**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Shadow's P.O.V.**

"Amara!" I shout louder, refusing to believe it. She would not leave everyone like this. She would not leave _me_ like this. I zoom around the area, searching for her. I stop at my favorite resting place, quickly running out of hope.

"This is the same lake in that large painting at the end of the hallway." I suddenly hear. I look to my left and find Amara standing by the lake, calmly watching the rippling water. Relief floods into me before fury quickly replaces it. With deliberate slowness, I walk to her side and also look at the water.

"You lied to me." I state, the sting of betrayal hitting me hard.

"I never lied to you. Did I ever say, 'I am not the girl Overseer'?" She asks. I think back and notice all the loopholes that she used and that I had failed to notice. My anger grows.

"How long have you known?" I am finding it harder to keep a calm exterior.

"I started noticing my powers after I turned dark." She answers, still calm. She knew for that long? Unable to contain my anger any longer, I turn towards her and whip her around to face me.

"Why did you not tell me?" I demand, fury laced in my voice. Her eyes widen.

"Shadow, calm dow-"

"Why?"

"Shad-"

"WHY?!" I roar.

"Because I couldn't!" She screams back, losing her calm demeanor.

"What do you mean you '_couldn't_'? You had this whole time to tell me! You knew long before Tikal even told us about Overseers! You-"

"No!" She interrupts, tears of frustration beginning to fall down her cheeks. "I didn't know! I had NO idea why I could see those dark tendrils, why they were EVERYWHERE, and why I was the only one to see them! I was so confused, and you never would've believed me if I told you what I saw! Don't even deny it!" She points at me once I open my mouth. "I decided to stay quiet until I could prove what I saw. It was when you discovered what you were that I finally understood what I was!"

"So why did you not tell us right then?" I glare with clenched teeth.

"Because you guys started talking about how you were going to transport the girl to another world! How could you expect me to tell you guys after hearing that? I didn't want to go to ANOTHER world!"

"Maybe I would not have sent you to another world! I could have figured out something if you would have given me the chance!" I snarl. Does she really think I would have willingly sent her away to another unfamiliar world? Right after she was so suddenly ripped away from her last one?

"It was a chance I wasn't willing to take." She glares.

"So you selfishly chose to stay silent and endanger the world? So thoughtful." I sneer.

"No, I decided to go back to Earth! Notice how you can't locate me anymore? Well that's because I put a spell on me to hide my location. I was going to go back, keeping this world safe and back to my family."

"Yet, here you are." I point out. She regains some of her composure.

"Because I would be doing what Micca did: only delaying Dovarian's escape. Someday Dovarian WILL escape, and we will be responsible for it. As tempting as it was, I realized running wouldn't do any good, and I also realized that this world," She gestures around us. "is my home. I love my family, but Earth isn't my home anymore. As long as Dovarian exists, he is a threat to my home, and I am ready to fight for it." She raises her chin in determination.

"So you stayed because you think you can defeat Dovarian? Not because of how cruel it would be to abruptly leave everyone like that?" The fire in her dies and sorrow replaces it, her ears flattening.

"Call me weak, but I just couldn't handle saying goodbye to everyone. I might've stayed otherwise."

"You stayed anyways!" I throw up my hands in frustration.

"For a different reason! I stayed for a selfless reason, not because of a selfish reason."

"What about me?" Hurt seeps into my voice despite my effort to conceal it."You thought I would just accept your absence and act like I never met you?"

"No, I never forgot about you." She whispers, now with tears of sorrow falling. "I just... I..." She struggles for the words. "I knew you would be hurt, but I thought you being with Amy would help." I vaguely notice the night sky begin to clear itself of clouds.

"She would never be able to get rid of the hurt." I argue.

"Oh come on Shadow. You care for Amy more than you care for me. I'm not saying you don't really care for me, I'm just saying that if Amy and I were to disappear at the same time, you would miss her more, so naturally she would be the best person to comfort you." She shrugs, drying her tears, and turns back toward the lake. "I'm still here though, so you can either hate me for what I tried to do or forgive me for why I tried to do it."

I think about what she said. Would I miss Rose more? I compare my relationship with Rose to mine with Amara. Rose makes big fusses over the normal things she discovers I do; Amara does not. Rose constantly questions my thought process; Amara almost always understands it. I go through more differences until I realize just how many flaws Rose has when it comes to viewing her as a potential spouse, and, once again, things suddenly click into place. How could I not see this sooner? Did I not say Amara is the closest friend I have had since Maria died? How could I have seen Rose as a potential spouse when she is not as close as Maria and I were, or as Amara and I are for that matter? Couples are supposed to be each other's most trusted friend, and Rose is not mine.

With this new realization, I look at Amara, and it is like I am seeing her for the first time. I notice how soft her hair looks in the moonlight, how warm her brown eyes are, how full her lips are, and how everything I see looks flawless. I wonder how she sees me.

I sigh and rub my temple, feeling my anger dissolve. "You are right. You acted for others' best interest, and I cannot hate you for that. You are wrong about me caring for Rose more, however." I say firmly. I want her to know just how important she really is to me.

"I am?" She raises a dubious eyebrow. I nod.

"Can I try something?" I ask hesitantly. Confused from my sudden mood change, she nods. I take the right glove off my hand, and I slowly raise it to her face. She watches me, wide-eyed as I brush my finger tips against her cheek. I jerk my hand back in surprise from the resulting tingles in my fingers. She gasps, like she feels it too. I go to touch her face again, this time placing my whole hand on her cheek. My hand tingles again where it touches her skin, but, strangely, not in an uncomfortable way. My thumb strokes her soft cheek and I lock eyes with her.

"Rose is a great girl. There is almost always a smile on her face, and she is quick to making friends. She helped me when others would not, and for that I am grateful. I will always be there for her: to protect, to comfort, and to be her friend."

"Yeah, I know." Amara says softly.

"Let me finish. I will always be there for Rose, but as her older brother." She looks at me in confusion. "Like I said, Rose is a great girl, but she just is not what I am looking for in a spouse." I shrug, now noticing her full lips. I move my hand and lightly stroke her lips with my fingers, the tingling sensation in my hand and her breathing both increases. "Can I try another thing?" I whisper.

"Yes." Her breath hits my fingers. I slowly bring my face down to hers, until our lips are an inch apart. I meet her eyes to make sure she is okay with this. I then close my eyes and the gap that separates us. Her lips are softer than I could have ever imagined. She kisses me back. What started out as a feather-light kiss ends with us clinging to each other. We break apart for air, and I notice her tears.

"What is wrong?" I wipe away her tears.

"Nothing." She smiles. "I just... For so long, I told myself that you'd never fall for me and that it was better that way."

"How long have you had feelings for me?" I ask, surprised that I had not noticed.

"I realized your first day in the hospital." For three weeks she has hid her feelings for me, and I never had a clue.

"I am sorry it took me this long to realize." I flatten my ears, remembering how she had to watch me and Rose together. Like I had to watch her and Cody..."Actually, it is probably the reason why I disliked Cody so much." I muse out loud.

"What about Cody?" She arches her eyebrow in confusion.

"I was just thinking about how you had to stand by and watch me with Rose, like I had to watch you with Cody." I admit. "I think I have unknowingly harbored feelings for you for a while now." I scrunch my eyebrows in frustration. I am supposed to be the one who notices everything, so how did I miss this? Then again, since her first day here I have never been able to completely predict or figure out Amara.

"Aww, you got jealous?" She grins and wraps her arms around my neck, and, before I can say anything, she crushes her lips against mine.

"You are definitely not leaving me now." I pant after we break apart and press my forehead against hers.

"Not a chance." She also pants with a smirk. "Oh! You must be getting cold!"

"I am fine, I swear." I smile effortlessly, not even noticing the winter air. It is amazing how light she can make me feel.

"Well, I'm not risking getting you sick. Let's go back inside."

"Alright. Not because you think I am cold, though, but because you look exhausted." I clarify. I know making that portal took up a lot of her energy. I can even see her weariness now. She smiles sheepishly at me. "Chaos control!" We end up at the end of my hallway, in front of the painting of the lake and our bedroom doors. Amara glances at her door before shyly looking at me.

"Can you stay with me?"

"Of course," I say, relieved I do not have to separate from her now. "but we are sleeping in my room. I will not be caught sleeping in a pink bed." She rolls her eyes.

"Pink and black." She corrects with a smirk, and she goes into her room to change into her pajamas. I remove my other glove and change into a pair of sweats, deciding not to sleep in my usual wear: just boxers. I climb into my bed and wait for her. She walks in, wearing a black tanktop and violet mid-thigh shorts, and climbs in the right side of my bed.

"My turn." She says, showing me her gloveless hands. She gently places both of her hands on either side of my face, the tingling feeling returning, and slowly runs them down my face, down my neck, and down to my chest. I close my eyes as she does this and sigh. Once she stops at my chest, she snuggles against my side and lays her head on my chest, her fingers slowly running themselves through my white chest fur. I softly stroke her hair, enjoying how it feels in my bare hands, with my eyes still closed. She begins to purr.

"Agh!" She bolts upright, my eyes snapping open in alert.

"What?"

"What was that noise I was making? I've never done that before!" She looks at me concerned. I laugh.

"You were purring. All hedgehogs can do that, especially when they are very happy." I explain, still chuckling.

"Oh. Well, it feels weird." She flushes in embarrassment and lays back down on my chest. I continue to stroke her hair.

"You can go to sleep Shadow. I promise you won't have any nightmares." I hear her yawn after a few minutes.

"How do you know that?" I ask, not too keen on experiencing new nightmares that will surely include Amara. She lifts her head and looks at me.

"Because the Dark World power is responsible for all nightmares. It won't touch you, not while I'm around." So that is why I had no dreams the first time Amara and I fell asleep together in the hospital. She lowers her head again and I suddenly remember something.

"Did you stop my nightmare my first night at the hospital?"

"Yes." Her ears lower at the memory. "You were growling so fiercely..."

"Well, thank you." I shake the memory of that nightmare out of my head. I rest my chin on top of her head. "Get some rest."

"Night Shadykins." She mumbles.

"Goodnight." I roll my eyes, and I fall asleep, trusting Amara about my nightmares.

**XXXXX**

I open my eyes to see rays of sunlight shining through my window. I had no nightmares or dreams. Just sleep. I hear soft breathing next to me and I turn my head. I find Amara sleeping next to me, facing towards me and giving me a full view of her peaceful face. As I look at her, I realize I will never feel the same for anyone else. Never. She is one of a kind. I also will not be able to let her be with anyone else. Just the mere thought of it makes my blood boil and gives me the urge to snarl out loud.

She stirs and opens her brown eyes. Such a beautiful creature. "Morning." She smiles sleepily at me.

"Good Morning." I position myself so that I hover over her, leaning on my left forearm. I peck a kiss on her forehead. "You know, I could get used to this."

"Get used to what?"

"Waking up to see your beautiful face every morning." I answer. She looks away and blushes.

"Well, I could get used to this too." She smiles. Seeing her now, by my side, makes it certain. She is definitely one of a kind.

"Amara." I hesitate as she looks back at me. Is this too soon? I discovered my feelings for her only last night. No, I am the Ultimate Lifeform. I do not doubt myself. I know what I feel, and she needs to know. "I love you. You are _mon amou_r." I say, remembering when she told me about those two words back in the hospital.

Her eyes watering, she gives me a quivering smile and a short laugh, remembering that day in the hospital too. "I-I love you too Shadow. So much." She loves me. _Me_. Elated, I place gentle kisses on her lips, which she happily returns.

"I want to start and end everyday with you by my side," I say as I begin to kiss my way down her jaw. " to have others envy what we have," I stop at her neck. "and to have everybody know that you are mine." I whisper into her neck. She shivers.

"Are you sure Shadow? Isn't this a bit too soon?" I hear nervousness in her voice. I lift my head up and look into her eyes.

"I am absolutely sure. We know more about the other than anyone else does, and no one else will be able to make me feel what I feel for you now. However, I will not force you to do anything you are not ready for. I can wait for as long as you need me to." She cups my cheek with her bare hand, now getting used to the tingling feeling that comes with our touches, and smiles lovingly at me.

"Then I'm all yours, Shadow the hedgehog." She arches her head back and moves her hair away, exposing the left side of her slender neck. I let my instincts take over and nuzzle her neck, searching for the right spot. Right there. Right where her shoulder and neck meets. I bite her hard enough to draw a little blood, but quick enough for her to only take one sharp breath of pain.

I lift my head and lock eyes with her. "I claim you, Amara Vipsin." I declare, finalizing the bond with the traditional words. Nothing noticeable happens. Did I do it right?

"Do you feel anything different?" I ask her.

"Other than the stinging on my neck, no." She smirks. "I guess it's one of those things we'll notice later". I nod in agreement. She touches her tender neck and feels the blood beginning to seep out of the wound. "I better bandage this up. I might as well make breakfast too." She climbs out of bed and goes to the bathroom. I watch her go, remembering how yesterday I had no idea what I had actually felt for her. I also remember Rose. I have to tell her we cannot be anything more than friends. I go to the bathroom.

"I have to go and talk to Rose." I lean against the doorway. Hopefully she will not get too upset with what I have to tell her. Amara looks at me in sympathy and with guilt.

"Okay." She gives me a quick goodbye-kiss before she finishes applying the bandage and heads to the kitchen. Ignoring the urge to follow her, I go back into my bedroom and get dressed, this time wearing a dark grey t-shirt instead of my usual white one. Uneasy about leaving Amara all alone, I make sure the house is locked and secured before I leave. One cannot be too cautious.

With one last glance to make sure Amara is still okay, I say, "Chaos control!" In a red flash, I am on Rose's front porch. Hopefully this is quick, for my uneasiness is growing. Before I can knock, the pink hedgehog herself opens the door.

"Oh! Hi Shadow! I was actually on my way to see you." She smiles brightly.

"Hello Rose." I nod in greeting. "I need to speak with you."

"I wanted to talk to you about something too." She looks down and shuffles her feet nervously.

"You can go first." I say politely, regardless of my anxiety to get back home. Amara is still fine... right?

"Okay, well... I think we should stay friends." She says hesitantly, snapping me out of my paranoid thoughts. She quickly continues. "Don't get me wrong, you are a wonderful guy, Shadow, but I feel we are better off just as friends. Sonic walked me home last night, and he actually admitted his feelings for me!" She smiles, joy radiating off of her as she replays last night's occurrence in her head. "I thought I was done waiting for him, but I guess I'm not. He makes me feel- I don't know- complete? Yeah, complete, and being without him just left me with a hole in my heart. I hope you understand." She bites her lip nervously.

"Rose," I say reassuringly. "It is okay. I actually was going to tell you the same thing. We are better off as friends; The kind where we are like siblings." She exhales loudly.

"I'm so happy to hear that! I was worried you'd be hurt." She grimaces.

"I am fine." I give her a small smile, fighting the urge to immediately go back home now that I have said what I have come to say.

"Well would you like to come in and-"

"No, sorry Rose, but I have some things I have to be getting to." I interrupt her.

"Oh, uh, okay. I'll see ya later then, Shadow." She smiles, curiosity in her eyes. I merely nod before chaos controlling myself back home. I find Amara in the kitchen in the middle of making breakfast. I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist.

"Well that was quick. You were gone for no more than two minutes." She chuckles without turning around.

"It has only been two minutes?" I could of sworn it was at least ten or more minutes.

"It does feel like it has been longer, doesn't it? You know," she turns around and faces me. "I think the claiming worked. After you left, I felt like a piece of me literally went missing, and I had an ache where you bit me when it was just fine the minute before. Now, it's fine."

"Hmm." I rub my chin. "I did get overly worried about leaving you alone for too long. I even cut Rose off just so I could get back here sooner." I underexaggerate my paranoia. She smiles, amused, and turns back to the stovetop to finish breakfast. I lightly touch her bandaged neck. "Does it hurt?"

"Now that you're back, no. I just put this on to stop the bleeding." She looks at the dish cupboard, and dishes fly out, setting themselves up on the table: World powers.

"We have to tell the others about your powers." I state as I watch the table be set up.

"I know. I plan on telling them after my concert tonight, since I'll be there now." She gives me sheepish look. I can feel her distress though. Must be another result of claiming her.

"You had good intentions." I say soothingly. "They will understand. If they do not," I grab her hand. "then they will have to deal with me." She gives me a small smile.

"Thanks, but they should be free to feel what they want. At least I have you."

"Always." I wrap her in my arms. She stays there for a minute before stepping away and pulls out some biscuits from the oven.

"Alright, the biscuits and gravy is ready." We make our plates and eat the delicious breakfast.

"So," She asks after a few bites. "when do you leave for work?" I forgot about work. The thought of not seeing her again until later tonight makes my stomach drop. So much could happen to her while I am gone...

"I am not going." I say. "I have a lot of vacation days I have yet to use, and they would not dare tell me what I can and cannot do anyways." She smiles happily at me.

"Great! I mean, uh, what do you plan on doing today then?" She tries to contain her excitement.

"Whatever you want." I smirk softly at her, amused by her enthusiasm.

"We've been pretty busy lately, so how about we just lounge around here?" I eye her fitted pajama tank-top.

"You are not going to change then, are you?" I ask with a half-lidded gaze. I hope not, I like all the skin she is showing. She blushes.

"Not if you stay shirtless." She winks at me. I chuckle.

"Deal." I take both of our empty dishes to the kitchen sink and remove my shirt, throwing it at her as she walks into the living room. She dodges it with a giggle and plops down onto the couch.

"How about a movie?" I sit next to her as she searches the channels for a movie. I grab her and pull her onto my lap, and she rests her head on my shoulder, my head resting on top of hers.

"Sounds perfect." I say, unable to think of anything better than it being just us and not having to share her.

She is all mine.

**I don't know about you guys, but I say, "Finally! :D"**

**Review if you agree!**

**_REMINDER_****: Write more Shadow and Amara centered stories? 30 yeses (review, poll vote, or PM) to make it happen!**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

**Seganumber1fan, Guest, thanks for the reviews!**

**Guest\- 'Shadara' sounds like an awesome ship name! :D**

**2/30 yeses so far!**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega.**

**Amara's P.O.V.**

He claimed me.

Shadow has done so much in the past nine hours: actually yelling at me, touching my face with his hand, confessing his feelings for me, telling me he loved me, and wanting to claim me. It's enough to make my head spin. How is it every time my mind is overwhelmed, Shadow is always the reason for it?

_He claimed me._

I still can't wrap my mind around it! I belong to Shadow now! If I hadn't of seen the amount of love and the sincerity he had on his face, I would've told him no. I had only just allowed myself to admit that I loved him, after all. However, I realized that since I have decided to stay, there was no longer a reason as to why I shouldn't, or couldn't, love Shadow, and as I looked into his intense red eyes, I also realized I wouldn't have anybody else claim me. So, I let him. It was really quick, but it hurt. A lot.

I release a sigh of contentment as Shadow and I watch a movie I can't remember the name of, me in Shadow's arms. I start to run my fingers through Shadow's soft, white chest fur. Just by looking at him, I never would've guessed all the muscle Shadow actually has. His fur hides a lot of his muscles. For instance, his fur makes it look like he is just starting to form abs, when in reality, he has a six-pack. Not important when it comes to why I love him, but it's a nice bonus.

"I'm glad Sonic finally told Amy his feelings. I was starting to worry about him." I say. Shadow told me his conversation with Amy a few minutes ago. I am actually really happy things ended that well. I was worried Amy would accuse me of stealing all the guys that are interested in her after she finds out about me and Shadow. She won't care, though, now that she's with Sonic.

"He just better not hurt Rose, or he will be sorry." Shadow says threateningly.

"Quit it. He won't." I roll my eyes and lightly scold him. I wonder how big of a deal the others will make of their relationship. Thinking of the others reminds me of tonight and my confession to them. No. I'll worry about it later. I have already sent out texts to everybody, letting them know I have something I need to talk to them about after the concert. Right now, I just want to lounge around and enjoy Shadow's company. Regardless of my attempt to avoid it, a thought about the future conversation occurs to me.

"Shadow." I turn my head and meet his gaze. "Could we not tell the others about us until after we're all done talking about the Dovarian issue? I want them to be able to focus on the prophecy and what we should do. I feel like if they knew about our relationship, we'd make little progress in preparing for Dovarian." I bite my lip, not sure if he'll agree. Shadow scrunches his eyebrows for a second before slowly nodding.

"I agree. They will make a big deal about Rose and Faker, so they will make an even bigger fuss about us. The issue with Dovarian is more important than letting the others know about our relationship." His arm around my waist tightens. "However, you will stay by my side tonight." I smile at his protectiveness, another outcome from claiming me I'm sure.

"And why's that?" I playfully arch an eyebrow.

"Anything could happen. Especially if we are hiding our relationship. A lot of people would leave you alone if they knew I claimed you." His lips slightly pull up in a grimace at the thought. Most girls would probably start suffocating from all this protectiveness and clinging, but I'm loving it.

"You know what Shadykins?" I smile softly at him. "You're adorable."

"What?" The wide-eyed look on his face makes me laugh so hard, it takes me a couple minutes just to compose myself. I hear him grumble about not being adorable.

"Oh Shadow." I sigh, still chuckling, and rest my head back on his shoulder to watch the rest of our movie. Not like I was paying attention to it before, with everything that's happened since last night, but there's no harm in trying.

"Oh!" I shoot upright.

"What?" Shadow tenses, alert.

"I don't have anything to wear to the concert tonight!" I didn't buy an outfit, since I planned on being gone.

Shadow exhales and rests his head on the back of the couch. "That is what you are worried about?"

"Hey. I NEED an outfit for tonight. Looks like we'll have to take a trip to the mall."

"What? With all those people?" His arms unconsciously tightens around me.

"It'll be fine Shadow." I soothe. "You'll be right there with me."

"You better believe I will." He growls. I smile.

"Well then, let me get ready and then we can go."

"Now? What happened to 'lounging around'?" He groans.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, are you actually complaining?" I smirk slyly at him.

"No." He huffs, ears flattening.

"Cute." I chuckle and kiss his nose before getting up and going to my bedroom. I hear him grumble the whole way there.

I put on my usual dress and Vans, this time the color red. I go to the bathroom and remove the bandage on my neck. I wash away the dried blood and observe my neck after drying it. A slightly-raised scar is left, low enough to not be prominent, but raised enough to make people take double-takes. I smile. My mark.

I go back to my room and put on a light jacket. I also put on a light pink, fuzzy winter scarf. I may not feel the cold, but other people don't know that. Plus, I need to hide my mark until after tonight.

"Okay Shadow, I'm ready." I walk into the living room. He eyes my scarf.

"Did you take off the bandage?" I nod and remove my scarf, showing him my mark. He walks up to me and lightly touches the scar, making me shiver. He leans his head towards it.

"Mon amour. All mine." He whispers before lightly kissing the scar. I begin to purr again, much to my discomfort, but I quickly realize I'm not the only one. His purr is deep, sounding in my head like a base does in a car.

"So you can purr." I tease, my purr stopping.

"I was not sure if I could either, to be honest." He admits, ending his too. He lifts his head away from my neck, and I put my scarf back on. "Chaos control!." In a red flash we are in the mall. I look at him with a raised eyebrow. "What? The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go back home."

"Alright, come on." I roll my eyes and lead him to one of my favorite clothing shops. After I find a black shirt and scarf, a voice calls out to us.

"Amara! Shadow!" We turn around and see Amy and Sonic coming towards us, holding hands and some shopping bags. The people they pass stop dead in their tracks and stare at the couple, disbelief written all over their faces.

"Hey guys!" I smile at them. Shadow gets closer to me, glaring at Sonic. I ignore him. "Oh, don't you two look adorable! I'm so happy for you both!" I squeal once they reach us."It's about time!" They both blush.

"Well, good things come to those who wait." Amy smiles happily at Sonic. He rubs the back of his head, but gives her a loving look. So cute.

"I can't wait to see how the others will react." I smirk at them. Sonic groans.

"Knuckles won't show ANY mercy."

"Don't worry, I'll bash him with my hammer if he doesn't lay off." Amy smirks with an evil glint in her eyes. Poor Knuckles. He doesn't even know what's in store for him.

"Looks like our club is no more." I look at Sonic with a smile. "We have to keep the handshake though."

"Definitely." Sonic reaches his hand out to start our seven-move handshake, but as soon as he does, Shadow takes a step forward and moves me behind him: a protective stance.

"Shadow?" Amy looks between the boys, concerned. Sonic looks at Shadow confused.

"There a problem, Shads?" Shadow blinks, like he just realized what he did. He releases his stance and crosses his arms.

"Take good care of Rose. Otherwise, you will deal with me." Shadow says warningly.

"You will never have to worry about that Shadow." Sonic says with such seriousness, it actually surprises me. Amy loops her arm through his and leans her head on his shoulder.

"How about we all go get some lunch?" She suggests. I hear Shadow release a barely audible sigh. I know Shadow doesn't want to be around other people right now,(well, more than he usually does anyways) especially if I'm here, so I make up an excuse.

"Actually, we have some things we need to do, and I still have to find some pants for my concert. I totally spaced my outfit until an hour ago. Rain check?" I smile apologetically.

"Oh okay. Rain check it is. Maybe I should get myself a new outfit for tonight too!" Amy bounces on her feet.

"Don't ya have enough clothes?" Sonic looks at her, fear of doing more shopping in his eyes.

"A girl never has enough clothes!" She giggles at his look. "We'll see you guys later tonight." She smiles at us and begins to walk off.

"Take Two." Sonic imitates a movie director and reaches out his hand to do our handshake again. This time Shadow stays still as Sonic and I do our handshake. "See ya later." He catches up to Amy.

"Well that was interesting." I give a side-look to Shadow.

"It was a reflex." He shrugs. Hopefully his protectiveness will lessen with time. It's cute now, but it'll get old if it stays at this level. I would also like to stay friends with Sonic and the other guys.

"Hmm. Let's finish up."

Fifteen minutes later we are back home, with my new concert outfit. "There. Was that so bad?" I take my clothes to my room and see it's 2 o'clock. "And we still have three hours to do whatever." I sit on the couch with a smirk.

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes and sits next to me, picking a movie called Equilibrium.

We spend the rest of our time watching the movie, which was awesome, and talk to each other about small things until I have to get ready. Good thing I look good in black, since it'll look like I'll be going to a funeral. The one downside to being in band.

Shadow transports me to the stage where my band will perform. "Good luck." He smiles softly and he goes to take his seat with the others in the audience. I catch sight of a red and yellow hammer and I see Amy standing over Knuckles threateningly, the others snickering at him. I chuckle and go set up my flute.

Here we go.

**XXXXX**

"That sounded amazing!" Cream beams at me as I near my friends.

"A lovely performance." Vanilla smiles warmly at me.

"Thank you. We had a couple goof-ups, but it went well-enough." I shrug.

"What are you talking about? I didn't hear one thing go wrong." Silver argues.

"There's always room to improve when it comes to music, but I'm glad you all enjoyed it." I smile. I glance at Shadow, who is towards the back of the group, and he gives me a small, proud smile, making me smile wider.

"You said you had something you wanted to talk to us about after the concert, right?" Amy looks at me. She's wearing a white dress with red flower print, something I'm sure she bought earlier today.

"Yes, I do." I nod. "We should start heading to Shadow's house now, actually." My nerves start to rise.

Before anyone can move, we suddenly hear, "Chaos control!" and, in a white flash, we are all in the living room.

"Dude! Warning! Yeesh!" Knuckles exclaims, holding his stomach queasily.

"Not my fault you get easily sick." Shadow crosses his arms indifferently. It's funny; seeing the indifferent side of Shadow is foreign to me now, when it used to be all that I knew.

"Take a seat if you'd like." I gesture to the furniture. I stay standing, my nerves too wired to let me sit.

"Hmm." Sonic stops after passing me. "Your scent is, uh, kinda weird, Amara."

"What?" I arch an eyebrow.

"Your scent, it's different. I almost noticed it in the mall earlier, but there was too many people around. Now it's really noticeable. It kinda smells like Shadow's, but yours is still there." He explains, brows scrunched up in thought.

"Hmm. Maybe I accidentally used his shower gel." I make up an excuse. It might be another result of being claimed.

"Maybe." He rubs his chin thoughtfully before joining Amy on the loveseat. Shadow stands to my left while everybody else, excluding Knuckles and Rouge, takes a seat.

"So," Sonic says. "What's up Amara?"

"Well..." I twiddle my fingers, and I notice Cream and Vanilla on the couch. "You both have been told about the World and Chaos powers, right?" I ask them, remembering they weren't there when Tikal explained things.

"Yes. Miss Amy told us about them." Cream nods.

"Good. Well then, I, uh, I..." I sigh heavily. "I-I don't know where to start."

"Start by telling them directly." Shadow gently tells me. I look at him and see his reassuring gaze. I can do this. I take a breath and meet everyone's now-concerned looks.

Rouge speaks up. "Amara, is everything-"

"I am the girl Overseer." I blurt out. Shock courses through the room.

"W-what?" Amy gapes at me.

"I am the girl Overseer." I repeat, softer now. A couple moments of silence passes as my words sink in.

"It seems you have a problem with telling us things." Rouge narrows her eyes at me. I flatten my ears. I sense Shadow's irritation and I put my hand on his forearm, making sure he stays quiet.

"How long have you known this?" Tails asks me.

"I noticed my powers after I turned dark."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sonic asks, hurt clearly in his voice.

"I was scared." I admit.

"Of what?" Blaze asks incredulously.

"Before Tikal explained everything, I thought I was going crazy. I saw these dark tendrils in every shadow I could see while no one else could see them. I wasn't going to say anything until I could prove their existence. Then, after hearing Tikal's explanation and realizing why I saw what I saw, you all talked about sending the girl to another world. I didn't want to get sent to another world again, so I continued to stay quiet." Knuckles eyes Shadow.

"You don't seem too surprised with all of this, Shadow."

"I found out last night." He states.

"What happened last night that made you finally spill the beans?" Silver looks at me.

"I tried to go back to my world." I answer softly. Shock once again hits everyone.

"You tried to leave? Without even saying goodbye?" Amy whispers with a hurt expression. I tear up.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I made a spell to hide my location, that's why Shadow can't sense me anymore, and I thought that by going back to my world, I would be keeping this world safe. Right before I could walk through the portal I had created, however, I realized that I would only be delaying Dovarian's escape, so I decided to stay and finally end it."

"Is that really why you stayed, or could you not handle leaving?" Knuckles looks at me suspicious.

"Are you calling her a liar?" Shadow glares at Knuckles.

"I was just pointing out-"

"You are wasting your breath. Have you forgotten the last time we doubted her? She electrocuted herself to death, just to protect the rest of us! She left her friends behind for the better good then, and she can do it again now." Shadow spits out at Knuckles, whose eyes are wide.

"Shadow," I wait for him to look at me. "calm down." I whisper. His eyes soften and he slowly nods.

"Okay." He sighs, his body relaxing.

"You okay Shadow? You seem moody. Well, moodier than usual." Sonic eyes him with both curiosity and surprise.

"I am fine. She deserves more respect than what Knuckles was insinuating." Shadow answers, composed. Knuckles scowls.

"It's alright." I say before things can get worse. "You all are free to think what you want." I glance at Shadow, emphasizing the last part.

"Why didn't you wait to tell Shadow with the rest of us?" Cream asks.

"Well, he somehow figured out who I was and found me a couple minutes after I decided to stay." I look at Shadow curiously.

"I was on the rooftop when I saw some flashes in the woods. Acting on instinct, I went to her room to see if she was still there. I found a note that read 'I'm sorry' instead. I immediately went to the place where the flashes were, and I found her not too far from there and demanded answers." He explains, leaving out all that happened afterwards. I turn back towards the group.

"If you are upset with me, I understand. You have every right. Just, help Shadow and me with Dovarian. I have a feeling we'll need all the help that we can get."

"Well, is there anything else you need to tell us?" Rouge asks wearily.

"Well, uh, yes, but it can wait after this discussion." I answer truthfully. "Other than that, there's nothing else."

"Okay." She nods. "Then you can expect me to be right by your side in this." She smiles at me.

"And the rest of us." Sonic says confidently, everybody nodding in agreement.

"Thank you." I whisper, eyes watering again.

"Let's start with the prophecy." Tails says, ready to start.

"_'One named for darkness, yet heart full of humanity_

_Controls both the ancient powers of Chaos_

_Destined to awaken His Darkness_

_Converted to serve and obey for eternity_

_A sentenced world to be forever lightless'_

"Obviously this part refers to Shadow. If this comes true, he will be the main reason why Dovarian awakens, and he will for some reason be Dovarian's servant, apparently forever." Tails' face scrunches up in concern.

"'_Another controls the ancient powers of the world_

_A heart made of gold, dangerous to all foes_

_Their lover tempts them, 'Join the darkness'_

_Forced to make a choice, the world's fate to be determined_

_The world's only hope from escaping darkness'_

"Now we know that this refers to Amara. Her lover will be on the dark side, tempting her to join him, and what she chooses will determine the world's fate. Now we just need to find out who he is." They all look at me. "Do you know him yet?" He asks me. I make sure not to look at Shadow.

"Yes. It's actually what I was going to tell you guys later." I blush.

"Oh. Well then... moving on. Dovarian is locked in the darkest place in this world, and he can only be freed if both Amara and Shadow remove his curse. He is also immortal from the amount of power he posses. We need a plan to figure out how to find and defeat him without releasing him."

"Shadow and I can use our powers and see if we can find out anything about Dovarian's whereabouts and if there's any spells that could defeat him."

"Do that." Tails nods. "This will take some time to come up with, so we should all think about any other ideas and meet up after Shadow and Amara are done searching. Then we can form a plan." We all nod in understanding.

"So, who's your guy?" Rouge smirks slyly at me. I feel my face heat up.

"Well, h-" all of a sudden I feel Shadow's arm wrap around my waist.

"I am." He states. Multiple mouths pop open.

"Wha...?" Silver gapes at us.

"You serious?" Sonic's eyes are the widest I've ever seen them. Shadow removes the scarf from around my neck, revealing my mark.

"Very." Silence.

"Shadow. Claimed. You?" Blaze whispers, eyes also huge.

"What the-" Silver tightly grips his head with both hands. "JUST HOW MANY BOMBSHELLS ARE YOU GOING TO DROP ON US?!"

"I can't take much more." Knuckles mutters before crouching down and supports his head with his left hand, taking slow, deep breaths. Rouge pats his shoulder and ends up leaning on him to keep standing.

"Sense Shadow prophecy lover dark. I-I mean, it makes sense that S-Shadow is her l-love, since he would be on the dark side anyways." Tails stutters, barely able to speak from his shock.

"That's why your scent is different!" Sonic snaps. Then his widen more, what I thought was impossible. "Wait... at the mall... Holy chili dogs! He really did claim you!" I look over at Shadow.

"Told you." I whisper to him. He nods.

"OH I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU BOTH! I COULD JUST CRY!" Amy suddenly jumps up and gives us her bone-crushing hugs.

"The world is ending!" Rouge exclaims, but joins the hug.

"Will you get off?" I hear Shadow's muffled, irritated voice.

"Oh! I need details! When did this all start?" Amy and Rouge look at me expectantly. Oh boy.

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	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

**Christian Wolf27****, ****Guests****, ****John****, ****Seganumber1fan****, thanks for the reviews!**

**5/30 yeses so far, a sixth of the way there! ;) I checked the Poll to make sure it was working, and it is indeed open and on my profile page.**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Amara's P.O.V. **

It's been a week since Shadow and I's relationship became known. The first couple of days were chaotic. All of our friends suddenly wanted to spend a lot more time around us, probably because they wanted to see Shadow's softer side, and a few days ago, the media got word of our relationship. Now I'm famous for being '_the girl who caught the Ultimate Lifeform's heart'_. They stalk us with their cameras when we're in public until Shadow threatens them. Sonic and Amy have this problem too. Luckily, Shadow protects both ours and Amy's house from the media. They wouldn't dare cross him.

Shadow's protectiveness over me has lessened, now to the point where I can spend an hour with my friends without him. Also, the snow is beginning to melt, turning this winter wonderland into the gray slush land. Regardless, I'm excited to see spring in this world. Shadow and I have been training and searching everyday too. We both will soon have complete control and understanding of our powers, and we have discovered where Dovarian's prison is. Now all we need to find is a spell that is strong enough to destroy him.

_Blindness, electrocution, immobilization, confusion, confinement, suffocation, memory loss... _

"Ugh! I'm not finding anything!" I sit down, ignoring the soggy ground, and bury my face in my hands. We have been searching for the stupid spell since this morning, it now the afternoon. All the spells we've found so far are either not what we need or not strong enough.

"It should not be this difficult to find one spell." Shadow stands besides me and crosses his arms, also frustrated.

"Some of these spells have nothing to do with what we're looking for! Like '_confinement'_? Or _'memory loss'?_" I cringe. "Although, I think memory loss would be horrible." Losing all your memories, forgetting all your loved ones? No thank you.

"It is not something I would want to go through again." Shadow says. I look at him. How could I forget that he lost his memory before? What if one of us lost our memories now? After everything we've been through?

"Maybe we should cast a spell to prevent our memories from being lost. I don't want to go through that kind of loss. Especially now." I scrunch my eyebrows in concern from the mere thought of it.

"It would be a lot worse losing my memory now than it was my first time." He nods in agreement. I gather both Light and Dark powers around me.

"_Memory loss shall not harm I, not by nature nor by enemies_." Dark gold mist forms and dissolves into my head. I may never need it, but it is a nice assurance nevertheless. Shadow does the same to himself, the same look of security that I felt in his eyes.

"Well, I say we take a break and eat some lunch." I stand and walk into the house. I start to make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"You like those sandwiches?" Shadow eyes my sandwich with a disgusted look.

"You don't like them?" I ask, surprised. I go to the kitchen table and begin to eat my sandwich, while Shadow heats up some leftovers for himself.

"No. Putting jelly and peanut butter together makes no sense, therefore it does not taste good. In a good sandwich, its ingredients need to make sense." He takes his plate and sits right across from me.

"It needs to make sense? Well that's the beauty of a PB and J! To normal people, this combination tastes great! Sometimes you need to combine different things to get an even better result." I stop mid-bite and widen my eyes in realization.

"What is it?" Shadow notices my looks and is suddenly right by my side.

"Combine..." I whisper. His brows scrunch up in confusion.

"What?"

"Combine, Shadow, combine! That's it!" I smile triumphantly at him. "That's how we can defeat Dovarian! We combine spells!" He thinks about it.

"I think you are right." He looks at me impressed. "We have found many spells that could have taken care of Dovarian if they were only stronger. The combination of spells will increase its power and inflict at least twice as much damage than they would have alone."

"Do you think we should test it out first?" I ask.

"Yes." We hurry up and finish our lunches, and I follow Shadow back out to the backyard.

"Alright, I will make that tree there grow, while you make its leaves open." Shadow points to the newly-budding tree in front of us. I nod in understanding.

Shadow and I say our different incantations, and once we both finish with the last word, we say at the same time, "_combine_."

Power surges from us and into the tree. It shudders before it suddenly shoots up twenty feet and its leaves rapidly open. It only took three seconds.

"It worked." I pant. Combining the spells took a lot of our energy, a lot more than I was expecting anyways.

"It was a lot more powerful than we expected too. It is four times more powerful than one of those spells alone, rather than it being twice as powerful." Shadow slightly pants as well.

"We're going to need a lot more energy than what we just used if we're to defeat Dovarian." I say, concerned.

"We can do it. I will be sure to have the chaos emeralds with me for extra energy, and you can summon as much of the Light and Dark powers as you can. Together, we can defeat him." Shadow answers confidently. His confidence eases some of my worry.

"You're right. We have each other to look out for. It's not like Dovarian has anything over us. We'll be fine." I sigh, forcing myself to relax. I notice Shadow's ear twitch.

"Amara, I need to tell you something." He says a slight look of uneasiness in his eyes.

"What is it?" My earlier worries are immediately back. Did we miss something? My wrist communicator suddenly beeps, an alarm letting me know it's time to meet with the others. I ignore it and look back at Shadow. "What do you need to tell me?"

"It can wait. We should get going." He dismisses.

"Are you sure?" I ask, his earlier look of unease still making me wary.

"Yes." He nods.

"Alright... Off to Tails' house then."

He sighs heavily. "If they stare at us again-"

"Patience Shadow. Can you blame them? You, the stoic Ultimate Lifeform, have a girlfriend and have even claimed her. It's a phenomenon!" I fake-exclaim. He ignores my comment and gestures to my backside.

"You should change, unless you want to show up in a muddy dress." I twist my head around and find my dress to be indeed muddy, also mixed with some dead grass.

"I just had to sit down." I mutter and go back inside to change. I hear him chuckle. I even got the chair I was sitting in for lunch muddy too!

After cleaning up my the chair, I go to our room; it still sounds strange, calling it 'our' room rather than calling it his. We decided to share his room, since he claimed me and all. I had to get rid of some of my stuff, as did he, to make enough room for the both of us. What we had left we put in our halves of the room. I have the left side of the room, closet, and bed while he has the right. I change my green-themed clothing for turquoise-themed.

"Okay, now we can go." I say once I'm back outside. "Could you run me there this time?" I ask before he can transport us. I still have yet to experience super speed in Shadow's arms.

"Of course." He picks me up bridal-style and glides off. This feels so different than I was with Sonic. I feel perfectly at ease in Shadow's arms, the wind blowing my hair back, and the gliding sensation, rather than the running, to be relaxing. Calming. This security makes the view all the more amazing. The world blurs by, random objects crystal clear as we pass. Beautiful.

Too soon we are at Tails' front door. Shadow rings the doorbell.

"Hey you two." Tails greets us with a smile. He leads us to the living room where the others are seated. Tails takes his seat at one end of his corner couch. Cream, Amy, Sonic and Knuckles are also seated on the couch. Silver and Blaze occupy the loveseat and Rouge leans against the doorway.

"You're the last ones to arrive. Gettin' slower Shads?" Sonic smirks at him. Shadow scowls at him. Amy gently elbows Sonic, not understanding why Sonic has to pester Shadow like that. I think it's good for him.

"I was waiting for her, Faker." Shadow nods over to me.

"Oh I see, it's all my fault. Charming." I pretend to be annoyed and try to walk past Shadow to take a seat. He grabs my arm and pulls me to him, a small smile on his lips. I can't help but to crack a small smile of my own.

"You are worth waiting for." He says lowly.

"Oh really?" I playfully arch an eyebrow.

"I would wait a thousand years if I had to." I smile wider and he gently kisses me. We turn to take our seats, hand in hand, and find everyone gawking at us.

"You all are really getting on my nerves." Shadow glares at them. They quickly look away, some mumbling apologies.

There are two more open seats in the living room, but one is at the end of the couch next to Knuckles, and the other spot is the recliner. Before I can let go of his hand, Shadow pulls me towards the recliner. There, he sits down and pulls me down onto his lap. He looks around at the others, daring them to stare at us. He is definitely tired of our relationship being the center of attention.

"So, did you two find anything?" Tails breaks the silence, daring a glance.

"Yes. Dovarian's prison is in a fissure at the bottom of the ocean, and we also discovered we can combine two spells, the result powerful enough to destroy him." Shadow answers.

"Have you decided which two spells?"

"No, we discovered this no longer than ten minutes ago."

"I see." Tails rubs his chin. "Can your powers travel all the way to Dovarian's prison?"

"If I have all seven emeralds and Amara has gathered as much power as she can, yes." Shadow nods. I look at him.

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"I checked on Dr. Robotnic from home."

"You did? When?"

"About four days ago. I realized it has been a while since we last heard from him, so I decided to check up on him by using my powers." I didn't know we could do that.

"How is he?" Sonic asks, concern for his old nemesis on his face. Eggman may have tried to do us all serious harm the last time we saw him, but Sonic has enough history with him to care about the Doctor's well-being.

"I think he is finally retired. His workshop is almost empty and it is dusty. He also lost some weight." From Shadow's tone, we can tell Eggman lost weight because of what happened to him the last time we saw him. I don't feel bad for him. He should be happy he's still alive.

"Well, at least that's one less villain to worry about." Amy tries to lighten the atmosphere, casting a concern glance at her blue hero.

"True." Tails nods before turning his attention back to us. "How soon do you think you can cast those spells?" Shadow looks over at me.

"I think we are ready. Combining is not the hardest thing when it comes to our powers." I point out. He nods and turns back to Tails.

"Tomorrow." Tails eyes widen.

"Oh, okay. Well, to lessen the amount of power needed just to travel, we should go to the beach."

"_We_?" Shadow raises an eyebrow.

"We told you we would be by your sides in this." Rouge crosses her arms.

"And it's better to be safe than sorry." Silver adds.

"Name the time then." I say, glad to have such great friends.

"Noon tomorrow?" Tails looks around. We all nod in agreement.

"Then we shall meet back here at noon tomorrow." Shadow confirms.

"Oh, before I forget, I need to test something while you both are here. Follow me." Tails gets up and heads out the front door. We all follow him out into the sunlight. Not a single cloud in the sky today. Tails leads us to the Tornado, just outside the garage. "I just added a feature to this that should be able to detect both Chaos and World powers. Could you both use your powers and help me see if it works?"

"Very well." Shadow extends his arm and looks towards the garage entrance. A faint blue glow can be seen from within his quills. The monitor in the Tornado beeps and 'Chaos' flashes across its screen.

"So far so good. Thanks Shadow." Shadow continues to look at the garage. We turn around to see what he's doing and see a bag containing the rest of the chaos emeralds floating towards us. Shadow grabs it.

"I was going to need these anyways." He cocks an eyebrow at us.

"Yeah, okay. Amara, your turn." Tails turns towards me. I simply call a tendril over to my hand. The monitor beeps again and 'World' flashes across the screen.

"Great! It works!"

"What did you do? I didn't see anything." Sonic looks at me curiously.

"I summoned one of the dark tendrils to my hand, that's why you didn't see anything." I explain.

"How often do you see these things? And are they like what Shadow explained when he saw the Chaos powers?" Silver asks.

"I see them everywhere I look. The only time I didn't see them was when we where talking to Tikal, and yes, they look like what Shadow described them as. Actually..." An idea forms in my head. "How about I show you what I see?"

"You can do that? Sweet!" Silver grins. I return the grin and I gather more powers. I search their memory for the right spell.

"_Reveal yourselves, only for a short while, to let others understand_." Nothing changes that I notice, but everyone else gasps in surprise.

"Whoa, this is what you see?" Knuckles walks up to me and points to the tendril that is still in my hands. "And these things?" He goes cross-eyed as he looks at the golden orbs floating around in the air.

"Yes, everywhere and all the time." I nod.

"They're so pretty." Amy smiles in awe at the orbs. Cream nods in agreement with the same awed smile.

"They look exactly like the Chaos powers do, except the Chaos powers have their own little glow to them." Shadow says, observing the powers.

"You're used to seeing these?" Rouge looks around her.

"It took some time." I shrug. Feeling my energy start to drain, I stop the spell.

"Aww, they're gone." Sonic's shoulders slump in disappointment.

"Sorry, but I was starting to get tired." I smile apologetically, when I notice the tendril in my hand suddenly starts to tremble. I look around and discover all the tendrils that I can see are shuddering. Focusing on the tendrils, I feel dread radiating off of them. Something's wrong.

"Guys-"

"Gah!" Shadow suddenly cries out in pain and drops on all fours. The emeralds in the dropped bag are glowing. Shadow's fur starts to turn white, his highlights black, and just his irises black. He's turning into his Overseer form.

"Shadow, what's going on?" I ask worriedly, knowing he is still in control of himself. For now. He straightens up, worry clearly on his face.

"When you died, I made a deal with Dovarian. I swore to transform at his command." He looks apologetically at me. My eyes widen. That's why I came back to life. It also means I was wrong and that Dovarian does indeed have the upper hand.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I whisper, terrified. What's going to happen?

"It was selfish and foolish mistake. I tried to tell you earlier, b- AGH!" Shadow falls down onto his side, eyes shut tightly.

"Shadow!" I drop next to him and touch his shoulder. The second I touch him I sense a massive amount of Dark Chaos power pouring into him. Familiar white mist begins to surround him, thicker this time.

Oh no.

"Get back!" I warn everyone and back away. Eyes wide with fear and realization, they quickly obey. The flow of energy now stopped, Shadow slowly rises, his head bowed. My heart pounds frantically.

"Shadow?" I whisper. He lifts his head and looks at me with his solid-black eyes, filling me with dread. Shadow is in his Dark Overseer form. Dark laughter echoes around us.

"_I am impressed. That plan of yours might have actually killed me._"

"What did you do to him?" I keep my gaze locked on Shadow.

"_I inserted more Dark Chaos power into him. You see, I am not like the normal Overseer. Not anymore. I have the ability to control both Dark powers, but, being imprisoned, my powers are limited. I am still strong enough to control the darkness inside others, however. The more darkness, the better._" Horror floods into my veins. He has the power to control the darkness in others? It's supposed to be impossible, but it only proves just how powerful Dovarian is, imprisioned or not. One thing is clear though.

Dovarian now controls Shadow.

Shadow grins wickedly at me. "You cannot believe the amount of power I have right now, mon amour." He purrs the last part, sending shivers of fear down my spine. I hold back a sob, tears beginning to fall down my face. The prophecy is coming true.

"_And now, Shadow, I command you to release me._"

"No!" I shout and step forward, but tendrils spring from the shadows and wrap around me, covering my mouth. More wrap around the others as well, also silencing them.

"Yes, Dovarian." Shadow keeps his black eyes on me. All seven of the chaos emeralds rise up and float around Shadow, glowing brightly. I sense Shadow use a lot of their power, enough to remove his part of the curse. I try ordering the tendrils holding me to release me, but Dovarian's control over them is too strong. Not wanting to be completely helpless, I begin to summon all the Light World power that I can, since Dovarian can control the Dark World power too.

_"What once was whole, now is divided into Chaos and World. I, Shadow the Chaos Overseer, hereby remove one-half of Dovarian's curse." _

The tendrils abruptly release us. Dark storm clouds appear out of nowhere and cover the whole sky, gusts of wind flings my hair everywhere, and purple lightning flashes across the sky. A lightning bolt strikes the ground five feet away from Shadow. Smoke-like mist emerges from the ground and begins to form a figure, glowing red eyes in its otherwise-faceless head. The mist-figure raises its arm and observes it.

"Very nice." Dovarian says, even though his head has no mouth. He drops his arm and turns his head towards me. "One down, one more to go."

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	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

**There is one more chapter after this, then it's over! :,(**

**I'll post the next chapter tomorrow, so you guys don't have to wait another week.**

**Guest, Christian Wolf27, TheJokingClown, RebelMM, thanks for the reviews!**

**8/30 yeses so far!**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega.**

**Amara's P.O.V.**

"You'll have to deal with us first!" I turn and find Sonic, Silver, and Knuckles turned super, glaring at Dovarian determinedly. I didn't even notice them tap into the Light Chaos power.

"Sure." Dovarian flicks his wrist and tendrils, both World and Chaos from what I can see and sense, ensnare the trio, forcing them to stay right where they are. Dovarian turns his attention back to me.

"Let me start by using my manners. Will you please turn into your Overseer form?"

"No." I raise my chin determinedly. I will not let him control me.

"I was hoping you would say that." He chuckles darkly. "You know, this is a new experience for me. For five millennia, I have only dealt with Shadow, trying to temp him any possible way that I could. Unfortunately, he kept himself isolated from everyone and always knew who I was before I could even introduce myself. Every attempt I made failed. That changed after I finally found you, however.

"After I transported you back to this world, I somehow lost track of you. For awhile there, I was actually looking for a human girl. My mistake." He chuckles. "I found you again after you turned Dark. It was then that I noticed the strong friendship you and Shadow shared. I _finally_ had what I needed to tempt Shadow. So, I waited for the right opportunity to make my first move: your death. Blinded by grief, Shadow finally made a deal with me in exchange for your life. Sweet, right?" I clench my jaw. I can just hear the smile in his voice. "I got even luckier as you two grew even closer, making it so much easier to make sure Shadow kept his promise."

"Now, here we are. I just need to figure out how to break you now." Dovarian begins to slowly walk towards me. I keep still, continuing my gathering of the Light power. I need to stay strong and logical now. It's my only hope.

"You would gladly sacrifice yourself for others, so threatening to kill you slowly and painfully is out. Threatening your friends' lives then?" He stops in front of me and glances at my friends behind me. "No, they are too happy with self-sacrificing as well. Well then, threatening your love's life it is. I can remove the spell that lets him be reborn. You would never see him again." I glance at Shadow to see his reaction to that, but he remains impassive, still watching me.

"He would be in a better place." I look back at Dovarian and keep my voice leveled. Be strong.

"Would he? I will create his own personal hell, torturing his soul for the rest of his existence. Can you be responsible for that?" Dovarian threatens. I narrow my eyes at him.

"Have you forgotten that I have already died? I felt the power of the afterlife. I KNOW you do not have that kind of power. You can bring recently-deceased people back from the dead, but you cannot control how the afterlife works." This, gets a small reaction from Shadow. His eyes flash with annoyance as he glances at Dovarian.

"Hmm, you are smart too. Oh well." Dovarian walks back over to Shadow. "It does not mean I cannot torture him though."

Before I can comprehend, a sickening snap is heard and Shadow falls to his knees with a pain-filled yell, clutching his side. Automatically I step forward in concern, but the tendrils come back and keep me in place. I try to command them to release me, but once again, I fail.

"I will break as many of his bones as painfully as I can before he can die. Then I will heal him with my powers and repeat the process." Another snap and yell, Shadow now on his side. I wince and shut my eyes to keep me from seeing his pain. "I will stop his suffering once you transform." The tendril covering my mouth removes itself. Another snap. I keep silent. Stay. Strong. The world is depending on me now, and I can't let my heart lead me. Two cracks sound, his shout of pain following.

"Shadow." Amy whimpers and I hear her take a couple steps.

"Amy, stop!" Sonic yells at her, still bound in place by the tendrils. Her steps stop.

"There's nothing we can do. Not even Amara." Rouge gravely tells her. I ignore them and the pain in my heart as it breaks from hearing Shadow's pain. By now I have a large amount of the Light power gathered, but I don't know what to do with it. It won't do me any good using it to attack Dovarian. He's too powerful.

An even louder crack. Stay logical.

"Amara!" The desperation in his voice makes me open my eyes and look at him. Blood runs out the corner of his mouth as he lays on his back, and he stares at me. My heart breaks even more, tears starting to fall down my face again. My Shadow is in there somewhere, and he's hurting. "Please!" His leg jerks at an unnatural angle, another crack sounding. "Stop this!" He groans between his clenched teeth. I can't tear my gaze away from him. He's hurting. No! Stay strong! But-

His back twists sickeningly with the loudest crack of them all. "AMARA!" He screams in utter agony.

"Stop it!" I shriek at Dovarian.

"Transform." He commands. Shadow yells again, losing strength now. I whimper, my will starting to crumble.

Be logical. Be st-

Shadow screams again, his voice gargling from blood. The sound destroys me.

"Okay okay!" I sob. "I'll do it! Just please, stop!" Tears pour out of my eyes.

"Good girl." Dovarian says, voice full of triumph. The tendrils release me and I slump to my knees. I look at all my friends behind me and meet their horrified and tearful looks.

"I'm s-sorry. S-so s-s-sorry." I sob uncontrollably now. I was wrong, I wasn't strong enough for this. I'm weak. A failure. I should have left when I had the chance. Now, everybody has to suffer from my mistake.

"Transform!" Dovarian demands. Still crying, I obey. The usual pain feels nothing compared to what is going on in my heart right now. This innocent world and its people are doomed, just because I couldn't stand to see Shadow, even though it wasn't the real him, in such pain. I deserve to be a mindless slave. I open my eyes one last time as myself and look at the crippled Shadow.

"If you can hear me, I'm sorry Shadow." My voice cracks. Deciding he needs it more than I do, I send all the Light power that I've accumulated to Shadow. I could've kept it for myself and maybe resist Dovarian's darkness, but what's the point? I can't defeat Dovarain without Shadow by my side, so I might as well end his pain. I watch as the surrounding tendrils, and then some, dissolve into me, the pain almost matching what I'm already going through.

_I've_ _failed_.

**XXXXX**

**Shadow's P.O.V.**

Dovarian warned me about maybe having to torture me to break Amara, I just did not expect the amount of pain I would actually experience. It is, by far, the worst physical pain I have ever felt. It also does not help my annoyance towards Dovarian. I promised to transform at his command because he threatened to torture Amara's soul. Now I find out Dovarian does not have the power to do that. I do not like when I am lied to.

I watch from the ground as Amara turns into her Overseer form, not even flinching from the pain transforming brings. That is my girl. Amara's brown hair turns black, her fur white, and her irises black. She looks at me, tears still falling down her cheeks. Why is she crying? She should be happy. We can be together forever now, helping Dovarian rule this world and ending all the crime of others. Oh well, she will understand soon enough.

"If you can hear me, I'm sorry Shadow." Her voice cracks with sadness and shame. Why say that? I am right here. I suddenly feel a warm sensation fill me, the fiery pain in my body dissipating. What is this? Light World Power? She sent it to heal me. Soon every broken bone of mine is healed, not even an ounce of soreness left.

My relief is only short-lived, though, before the Light World power clashes with the Dark Chaos power for control within me, the pain multiple times worse than it usually is. I try to order it away, but I cannot control the World power. I have no choice but to lay there as their battle wreaks havoc on my body. Amara gathered a lot more of the power than I thought, for it is actually equal to the amount of Dark power. Realizing neither one can overpower the other, the powers merge together, intensifying the pain. It is not long before the merge reaches my head, making my head feel like it might split in half. After the pain subsides, I find my thoughts to be clear, not enough darkness around to warp them.

Clear-headed and filled with a massive amount of power, I open my eyes and stand up. A quick observation of things tells me that instead of several minutes passing after Amara gave me the Light power like I thought, only several seconds has passed. I am actually just in time to see Dovarian finish inserting Dark World power into Amara. The white mist that no longer surrounds me, now surrounds Amara and her eyes are all black. The sight makes my stomach drop. Is this what Amara felt after she saw me like that?

"Finally, after thousands of years of waiting, I will finally be free!" Dovarian exclaims. "My dear Amara, remove the rest of my curse."

"Yes Dovarian." She nods and gets up from her knees.

"Do not listen to him!" I warn Amara, hoping I can break through to her. She just looks at me curiously.

"What is this?" Dovarian looks at me and sees my lack of mist and black sclera. "How did you regain control?" He was so focused on turning Amara that he did not notice the Light World power merge with all the Dark Chaos power in me. I ignore his question and look back at Amara.

"Amara, I know you can fight this. Do not let Dovarian make you a mindless slave. We can still defeat him, but only if you do not remove the rest of his curse." I carefully watch her, looking for any reaction from my words. Nothing.

"I do not know how you regained your control, but it does not matter now. Amara," She looks over at him. "take care of him." Amara locks her cold gaze on me and advances.

"Come now, Shadykins, don't you want to rid this world of evil?" The bitter tone in her voice is completely foreign to me.

"We will be serving the worst evil in the world." I stay where I stand, watching her approach.

"Then I guess I'll have to knock some sense into you." She grins menacingly at me.

"Amara," I put up my hands in a surrendering motion as she stops in front of me. "I will not fight you."

"You say that now." She smirks. She slams her fist into my gut and sends me flying back twenty feet. I sit up to regain my breath, only to find her right next to me. She goes to kick the side of my head, but I catch her foot.

"I will not." I say firmly and retreat from her.

"Why? Do you think I'm not strong enough?" A fallen tree log hits me from behind, making me stumble a couple steps forward. Taking advantage of my stumble, Amara takes a hold of my arm and swings me into a tree, the tree violently shuddering from the impact. "Because that would be foolish of you to think."

"No, because I love you too much." I pant while on all fours, my back now sore. From the amount of power that I have, none of Amara's hits are too painful. They can still leave me gasping for air though. White flickers in her eyes for just a second, before she growls and throws me into another tree. There is still hope.

"I love you too Shadow. That's why I'm doing this: to make you realize how much happier we would be siding with Dovarian." She glares at me as I get back up.

"It that your opinion, or Dovarian's?" I ask. She launches herself at me again, and I grab her arms and swing her thirty feet away from me, making sure she does not hit anything. She lands on her feet, baring her teeth in frustration at me. Another log hits me from behind, sweeping my legs from under me. A sharp stick comes hurdling towards my chest after I hit the ground. I go to move, but find myself unable to.

_Immobilization_.

I quickly counteract the spell and move, the stick burying itself in the ground the second after. She could have killed me.

"Come on Shadow. If you love me, you will join me."

I glare at her. "No."

"Maybe one of your friends can change your mind." Dovarian speaks up. Amara smiles evilly at me before turning and facing the group, focusing on Rose as she forms a ball of energy. Sonic struggles frantically against the tendrils holding him.

"No!" I zoom forward and tackle Amara, the ball of energy barely missing Rose. I pin Amara.

"Change your mind?" Amara smirks from under me.

"No." Her whole body suddenly electrocutes me, trying to get me off. I grit my teeth and keep her pinned. She growls in frustration.

"How are- ohh." She smiles at me in realization. "Giving the Light power to you did it, huh?" Catching me off guard, she throws me off. "A stupid mistake on my part." She stands back up. An idea forms in my head.

"You think so?" I zip up to her and pin her against my chest. I crush my lips against hers. "Come back to me." I whisper. Not hesitating, she breaks my hold and shoves me back, snarling with fury.

"Just give up!" She blasts an energy ball at me, hitting me right in the face and knocking me down. I blink the spots from my eyes and get back up. I have to get through to her.

"You still have my mark on your neck." I dodge another energy ball. "So that means," I zoom up in front of her, pinning her against me again, and whisper, "you still belong to me, and as long as I am still breathing, I refuse to give up on you." Her sclera flashes white again, uncertainty on her face, before they turn black again and she punches me right on my jaw, sending me flying again.

"He has too much power, Dovarian! I sent him a large amount of Light World power right before you turned me!"

"That is how he regained control." Dovarian realizes, frustration in his voice. "Foolish girl! I used up all my power inserting you both with darkness! I cannot give you anymore power until you remove the rest of my curse!" She nods in understanding.

_"What once-"_

"No!" I cast a spell, immobilizing her. I sense her fury, even still as a statue. I look at Dovarian. "I will not allow that." Something suddenly wraps tightly around me, something invisible. I struggle to break free, but fail.

"I lied about not having anymore power." Dovarian smugly says. I am lifted off the ground and slowly turned around, facing a murderous Amara. A black ball of energy is in her hands, powerful enough to end me.

"Last chance, mon amour." She aims the ball. I quickly try to think of something, but come up with nothing.

"Will you join me," What else can I do? I have tried everything! I glance at the others and notice the three still in their super forms. Positive energy...

"or not?" How could I have not thought of this sooner? I begin to gather the Light Chaos power and project my voice in the three's heads.

'_Listen, I need you all to turn normal. I am going to need all the positive energy that I can get._'

'_Got it._' They turn back to normal. No one else notices, for their attention is on Amara and me.

"Well?" She demands. Just a little longer.

"Will you actually kill me if I refuse?" I stall.

"I don't have any other choice." She answers indifferently. Almost there.

"I doubt you will. I could not harm you when I had the chance."

"We're different people." She glares merciless at me.

"Enough of this! Make your choice, now!" Dovarian demands. There! I quickly and quietly mutter the required words and send the Light Chaos power into Amara.

Her eyes widen with surprise and the ball of energy vanishes as she doubles over, dropping to the ground in pain. She groans, curling into a fetal position. The tendrils holding me remain, however. Her sclera flickers white, the mist threatening to dissipate at any second.

"What have you done?!" Dovarian roars at me. I keep my gaze locked on the struggling Amara, hoping this works. She groans again and meets my gaze, her sclera white. My hope rises, only to plunge back down and hit rock bottom as Amara's scleras turn black again and the mist solidifies. Amara straightens up and Dovarian laughs.

"Valiant attempt, Shadow. Valiant attempt." I cannot believe it. I have failed.

_Failed her, failed Maria..._

_Everyone._

**XXXXX**

**Amara's P.O.V.**

Oh the pain! Shadow inserted Light Chaos power into me, hoping he could do to me what I did to him. I vaguely hear Dovarian's angry shout as I struggle to stay conscious, unable to command the power away. The powers begin to merge, making me groan again. It reaches my head, creating the worse headache I could ever imagine, and the darkness vanishes, leaving my thoughts clear once again. I meet Shadow's concerned and hopeful gaze. I also notice the dried blood on the corner of his mouth and his shredded clothing. I did this. Shadow refused to fight me, even tried to snap me out of it, but I still hurt him. No, Dovarian made me hurt him. Dovarian did this.

Fury floods my veins, making me see red. The white mist comes back, probably meaning my eyes are black as well. I welcome this darkness though. This is my own, not inserted by Dovarain, and it is only directed at Dovarian.

With a plan in mind, I stand back up and see Shadow slump in defeat, hopelessness in his eyes. I keep a straight face and continue to act like I am under Dovarian's control. I'll tell Shadow the plan once the time is right.

"On second thought, I think I'll wait on killing you and make you watch Dovarian be freed." I grin darkly at the hopeless Shadow and face Dovarain. I summon the powers neccessary to free him, then I continue to summon only the Light World power.

"_What once was whole, now is divided into Chaos and World. I, Amara the World Overseer, hereby remove the last half of Dovarian's curse!_" A storm ten times worse than the one before breaks out. Not wasting time, I release Shadow from the tendrils holding him. He drops to the ground and stays there, no emotion on his face. Luckily, he stays in his Overseer form. I go to his side and drop to my knees. I cup his cheek and make him look at me.

"Shadow, I need you to listen to me. Your idea worked, I'm free of Dovarian's control, but we don't have much time. Gather all the Light Chaos power you can. Now." He looks at me warily, also confused.

"But you are still a Dark Overseer."

"Yeah, but that's because I'm pissed. Dovarian made me hurt you, and for that I am going to destroy him." I growl menacingly. Shadow smiles in relief, his eyes watering.

"I thought I lost you." He whispers.

"Never." I smile lovingly. "Now hurry up, we're losing time." He nods and stands up, working on gathering the all the Light Chaos power. I focus on summoning all the World Light power that I can, even from across the world. I'm going to need it.

"I'll do confinement, you do electrocution. Don't stop once you start, no matter what happens to us." I order. He nods in understanding.

Multiple lighting bolts hit the ground around Dovarian's mist-body, the wind howling like it might form a tornado. The body begins to solidify, a face and other details appearing.

"Yes!" Dovarian exclaims joyfully, his body complete. In front of us stands a black panther with red sclera and black irises. "Finally! I am free!" He laughs, his sharp teeth gleaming from the lightning.

"Ready?" I whisper to Shadow. He nods. "Now!" We quickly start muttering our incantations, Dovarian still not taking notice of us.

"_Combine_." With a big surge of energy, a transparent gold bubble crackling with electricity enfolds Dovarian. A couple bolts of energy start to shock Dovarian. He just observes the bubble with an annoyed look.

"You think you can still defeat me? Nothing can stop me now."

"Get ready." I warn Shadow. Maintaining the bubble isn't too hard right now, but as soon as Dovarian fights, it'll require as much of our energy as we can possibly give. Dovarian touches the wall of the bubble, but it electrocutes him back. He frowns at it. Black mist forms in his hand and he shoots it at the wall. Again, it is deflected. He growls and black mist forms all around him, obscuring our view of him as it fills the bubble. We pour almost all of our energy into the bubble, fighting to keep Dovarian contained. The bolts increases their strikes on Dovarian. The mist clears and we see Dovarian on all fours, numerous bolts shocking him. Fear is in his eyes.

"No!" He growls and wobbly stands. "No!" He shoots black bolts of his own at the walls. "No No No No No No No _No_!" Shadow and I are at the point of if we give anymore power, the possibility of us dying are high. I look at Shadow and he looks at me. We don't have to say anything.

This ends now.

We give it our all, the energy bolts increasing even more. Dovarian's ear begins to dissolve.

"NO!" He shrieks, becoming more frantic, fear on his face. "I AM IMMORTAL!"

"Doesn't. Mean. You're. Invincible." I pant, legs threatening to give out on me. Dovarian's limbs begins to disintegrate. He screams, losing strength fast now. With one last energy surge from us, the bolts strike Dovarian all at once. He screams and bursts into a cloud of dust.

He's finished.

Beyond exhausted, Shadow and I let the bubble vanish and we collapse to the ground. I can't even move my head and see if he's alright.

"Amara! Shadow!" I vaguely hear our friends call. I feel someone grab my wrist. It's starting to get cold...

Warmth suddenly fills me, giving me strength. "_You two have sacrificed enough. Go and live, live knowing the greatest threat to this world is no more. Thank you._" An unfamiliar voice says. My friends' frantic voices become clear again. I open my eyes and see their worried looks.

"Amara! Are you alright?" Rouge asks worriedly.

"Shadow's awake too!" I hear Amy happily exclaim. I turn my head and meet familiar red orbs.

"Did you hear Micca too?" Shadow asks, laying besides me. So that's who it was. I nod. I notice the clear blue sky.

"So me choosing to give myself up to Dovarian was the right choice?" I scrunch up my eyebrows. How does that make sense?

"No, you choosing to give me your Light power was. You could have saved it for yourself and resist Dovarian's control, but you did not."

Huh. Sorry heart, I guess I'll never doubt your leadership again.

I look at my friends with remorse. "Guys, I'm-"

"Nuh uh." Sonic wags his finger. "What happened was either not either of your guys' faults, or it happened for a reason." The rest all nod in agreement.

"You guys are amazing." I smile tearfully at them. I turn my attention back to Shadow, glad to see him back to normal.

"We did it, Shadow." I smile at him, tears of joy threatening to spill. He grabs my hand with a smile too.

"Yes, we did."

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	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

**Here you go, the LAST chapter. :,(**

**Christian Wolf27, Sonamylover6822****, thanks for the reviews!**

**8/30 yeses so far!**

**I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega. **

**Amara's P.O.V. **

_I open my eyes and see dawn just starting outside. It's time._

_"Shadow," I wake up my husband. "I want to see the sun rise."_

_"Okay." He picks me up bridal-style and chaos controls us to our roof. Still holding me in his arms, he sits down. We silently watch the dark blue sky slowly turns lighter, different shades of pink and orange in the horizon. I think about all the years that have passed and how my life went. _

_Shadow and I got married a few months after dealing with Dovarian. We moved to a bigger house in the forest a year later, not too far from civilization. Shadow quit working for G.U.N., and we spent our time together in our peaceful new house, one of the perks of having a limitless credit card. Two years after marriage, we had our first child, Maria. Then we had Micca and Vipsin. _

_Maria almost looks like me, with the difference of having red highlights in her hair. Micca is four years younger than Maria, and he almost looks exactly like Shadow, with the exception of having brown highlights rather than red and no white tuff of fur on his chest. Vipsin is three years younger than Micca and is truly a combination of me and Shadow. She has my magenta fur, but her hair is black with red highlights. She has her father's red eyes, but there are also flecks of brown in them. All three of our kids have a mixture of Shadow and I's personality, which can be VERY annoying, and they also have my hair/quill mixture. _

_We, meaning me, also made sure to stay in contact with the Sonic crew as time passed. _

_Silver claimed and married Blaze a year after Shadow and I got married. They have two kids and still visit their friends from the past at least once a month. They won't tell us too much about their world, not wanting reveal too much about the future, but I do know that whatever they do, they are successful. _

_Sonic claimed Amy and married her two years after Shadow and I got married. They had five kids. That's right, five. Three of them are supper speedsters like their father while the other two have dangerous tempers like their mother. Sonic became the best judge in Mobius, and Amy ran a hospital and a bakery. Sonic and Amy unfortunately died seven months ago. The Doctors said it was a big coincidence they died at the same time, but the rest of us know better. They couldn't live without the other. _

_Knuckles and Rouge were married four months after Sonic and Amy married. They had one son, and he became the next Guardian of the Master Emerald. While Knuckles guarded the emerald, Rouge worked as the best jeweler known in Mobius. Go figure. Knuckles died from old age three years ago, Rouge following two weeks later. She couldn't stand to be much longer without him_.

_Tails and Cream got married eight years after Dovarian's defeat. They have four kids. Tails created a multibillion-dollar company made to better the technology in the world. Saying 'I personally know the guy that created that' is a lot of fun. Cream started orphanages in every city, saving thousands of orphaned children. They still visit us often. _

_All of our kids grew up being good friends, and still are good friends. They refer to the other parents as 'aunt' or 'uncle', not just by their names. When the kids were younger, they defended Mobius from the villains, just like we did at their ages. There was a time or two when we parents had to step in and help, but they still did most of the work. To say we all are proud of our kids is an understatement. They are our pride and joy. Now our great-grandkids are just getting the job of protecting Mobius, their parents being there to back them up too. _

_It's hard to believe that I'm 84 years old now. 66 years of being in this world, and what a wonderful 66 years it's been. Shadow and I never used our Overseer forms again, for nothing was a big enough threat. Shadow and I aged well too, if I do say so myself. My hair is no longer brown, but silver, and Shadow's red highlights are a dark grey now. Our relationship has stayed just as strong as the day he claimed me, stronger even. _

_Last month I was diagnosed with a relatively-new illness that I still can't pronounce and was given a month to live. I've lived a long-enough life, so I accepted it. I had to comfort Shadow though. As far as he's concerned, he goes where I go, just like how Amy and Sonic died together. He can't live without me. _

_Now, here we are, enjoying our last moments together by watching the sun rise. The sun peaks over the horizon, it's golden rays shining on us. I start to grow cold, something I haven't felt in 66 years. _

_"I love you Shadykins." I lay my head against his chest. He lays his head on top of mine. _

_"I love you too, mon amour." He says in a strained voice. _

_"It's okay, Shadow. It's okay." I whisper, taking my last breath. Once again, I let Death lead me to the afterlife, the fully-risen sun being the last thing that I see. _

**XXXXX**

_Beep beep beep bee-_

I slap my alarm clock off and sigh. That's the third time I've had that dream now.

Since I can remember, I have had a dream every single night, and in every single one of them, _he's_ there. A black hedgehog with red highlights. I can never remember his name, just the nickname my dream-self calls him: Shadykins. There are others in my dreams too, but I never remember them after I wake up. Just him.

These dreams screw up my romantic life too, or my non-existent one, I should say. I can't help but to compare every guy to him, always disappointed with the difference. I am literally looking for my dream guy, and I don't even know if he exists! I told my parents about my dreams, but they don't know anything more than I do. Will I find this guy someday? Or is he something my mind created just to torture me? With everything that's been happening lately, I'm going with that last one.

I open my eyes. The first thing I see are those blasted tendril things. Why won't they go away? I never saw them before yesterday! It's bad enough that I have those dreams, but now I have to see these things too? I climb out of bed and head to my bathroom. A tendril zips out in front of me and darts into a different shadow, making me jump.

"Agh! Stupid-" I take a deep breath and continue to my bathroom. Yesterday I was walking home from getting groceries for my mom when I saw a young boy getting beaten up by some bullies. Angry, I tried to tell them to leave the boy alone, but all that earned me was a slap to the face. I turned Dark and taught those bullies a lesson, not without noticing those tendrils hiding in the shadows and the extra power they gave me. I walked the boy named Silver home to make sure he got back safely, the whole time seeing the tendrils. There hasn't been a moment since that I have not seen them. No one knows about this, for there's no way I will risk being sent to a therapist.

I try to ignore the tendrils as I get ready for school. Just one more year, one more year and I'll be sixteen and graduating. I put on my usual warm outfit: a tanktop, blue jean shorts, and gladiator sandals that matches the shirt, today's color being violet. I go downstairs and make myself some toast for breakfast. I go outside and hop in my friend's, Toby's, red car. Toby is a lion and has been my best friend since second grade. We carpool with each other to school everyday.

"You look tired Amara. Get any sleep?" He glances over at me as he drives.

"It's just one of those days." I rub my temple.

"It's not one of those lady problems, is it?" He grimaces. I punch his arm. "Ow! Kidding!" He rubs his arm. "Crabby." He mutters. I ignore him. He doesn't deserve my mood, but I can't help it. I'm a bit overwhelmed.

The school day goes by as usual, slow and boring, and it doesn't improve my mood. The tendrils are here by the hundreds. I am pretty sure I'm stuck seeing these things now. Word is spreading around the school about a new guy in school, but I don't listen. Half of it is true anyways. The only perk of today so far is it's pizza for lunch. I love pizza.

After lunch, I go to my sixth period class, Biology II. I take my seat in the back, next to Toby, and lay my head down on the desk, waiting for the bell to ring and class to start.

"You sure you're alright?" Toby asks me, concerned. It's not very often I'm tired and cranky like this.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired." I give him a small smile. I hear our teacher, Mr. Thorn, walk in. I keep my head down, knowing he still has to do attendence.

"I see we have a new student. Shadow Hossetler, I presume?" Mr. Thorn says, grabbing my attention. The name rings a bell, but I don't know why.

"Yes." My head shoots up at the sound of _his_ voice and I find _him_ seated at the front of the room. There, in the flesh, is the black hedgehog with red highlights from my dreams. He's real.

"Amara?" Toby nudges me, snapping me out of my trance. "You're really pale now."

"I'm fine." I quickly answer, not tearing my gaze off of Shadow. He's real!

"Amara Larkinson?" I hear Mr. Thorn call.

"What?" I tear my gaze from Shadow.

"Well you're physically here. How about mentally?" Mr. Thorn raises an eyebrow at me. A couple kids snicker. _He's_ looking at me, I can just feel it.

"Sorry." I blush. "I'm here."

"Good." He finishes attendance. I keep my eyes on my desk, still feeling_ his _eyes on me.

"Okay class, take out your notes..." For the rest of class, I refuse to look at Shadow again, afraid I might accidentally meet his gaze. It took all my focus though. I don't remember a single thing Mr. Thorn just taught us. As soon as class ends, I put myself in the middle of the group of students exiting the room, making sure I'm not accidentally next to him.

The last two periods fly by, my thoughts on nothing but Shadow. What do I do? What am I _supposed t_o do? Surely he doesn't have dreams of me too? Does he feel _anything_ for me?

As soon as eighth period ends, I leave the building as quickly as I can to get to Toby's car, not wanting to risk running into Shadow. For the rest of the day, I'm basically a mindless zombie. My body moves and does what it needs to, but my mind is far, far away. I am halfway through dinner when I can't take it anymore.

"Mom, I'm not feeling too well. I really need some fresh air. Can I go take a walk?"

"Sure sweetie." Mom casts me a concerned look. She is responsible for my magenta fur, while my dad is responsible for my hair being brown.

"Thanks." I quickly head for the door.

"Be back in no more than an hour." My dad calls after me. I take a deep breath once outside and walk to my favorite spot. We live near a lake, a forest right next to that. The lake provides a perfect view while the trees provide shade. It's perfect for relaxing.

"Ugh." I sigh as I sit criss-crossed by the lake, the moon reflecting on its calm waters. "Why? Why me?" I ask to no one in particular. Talking out loud to myself helps me sort out my thoughts. "Don't I have enough going on in my life? I'm seeing no other option but to wait it out and see how things go. If things don't get clearer soon, though, I'll... I'll..." I bury my face in my hands. "I don't know what I'll do." I mutter.

"Rough day?" I jump and whirl around. "Sorry, I did not mean to scare you." Shadow puts up his hands. Ignoring the fast pace of my heart, I compose myself. Up close, I see more details, and every detail I recognize.

"It's okay. Yeah, you could say today wasn't the best." I go back to looking at the lake.

"Amara, right?" I nod, my heart picking up speed again. So what if he remembers my name? We have class together, it's not surprising. "Mind if I join you?" I shake my head. His voice is exactly like in my dreams too. Shadow sits next to me, also watching the water. I wait for him to ask what was so bad about today, but he doesn't, to my relief. "My name is Shadow."

"I know. We have Biology II together."

"I know." We lock eyes for a second and look away, an awkward silence between us.

"So, how was your first day here?" I ask.

"It went well enough." He shrugs. Another moment of silence.

"Did you meet the school's girls today?" I smirk at him, obviously not doubting that they made sure to introduce themselves. Like every school, we have some girls that, how do you say this nicely, get around?

"Unfortunately." He scrunches up his face in disgust. I chuckle at his expression.

"Did you lie to them and say you have a girlfriend or something?" Smooth Amara, now you're trying to pry into his life and see if he's single. Totally not obvious.

"I told them the truth." He states, not taking notice of my prying.

"Which was...?" I arch an eyebrow.

"That I am already taken." He looks over at me. I hide the sudden pain in my chest. What do I care? I don't even know him.

_Except for the fact that he's the reason why you never had a boyfriend, or even a crush... _

Stupid inner voice.

"What about you? Is that guy you were sitting next to in class your boyfriend?" I'm unable to stop a burst of laughter from leaving my mouth.

"Toby? No, he's my best friend."

"Oh, my mistake." He sounds... relieved? Nah, it's my mind torturing me again. I just might as well admit that I'm losing my mind.

"I'm glad you have someone. She's lucky to have a guy as devoted as you." I plaster a smile on my face.

"She does not know about my feelings. I am not sure if she will reject me or not. Someday, though, I will tell her how I feel. I will tell her she is _mon amour._" I tense. _Mon amour. _I've only heard that in my dreams, and dream-Shadow called me that. I tried to look it up, but it does not exist. Somehow, though, I already knew it meant. 'My love'. I told no one else about it. Not even when I was telling my parents about my dreams. It seemed too personal to do that.

I notice Shadow watching me carefully. He dreams of me too, I realize. He has to be if he knows those two words. He might like me too...

I follow my instincts and unfreeze myself. "That's cute. She'll probably smile wide and call you some nickname, like '_Shadykins_'." Shock flashes in his eyes from hearing the name before he slowly smiles. He hesitantly raises his hand and gently cups my cheek, slowly rubbing his thumb on my cheek. I automatically lean into it.

"I have been looking for you for quite some time now." He says lowly.

"I've been _waiting_ for you for a long time." I smile tearfully. This feels so right, like I was unknowingly missing a part of myself, and now that I've found it, there's no way I'm letting it go. His smile widening, he leans in and gently presses his lips against mine.

The second out lips meet, memories suddenly flash in my head. Memories of a world called Earth, of human family and friends, of World and Chaos powers, of the Original Heroes of Mobius, and of Shadow the Hedgehog. I remember everything from my past life, from my earliest memories on Earth, to my last moments on the rooftop with Shadow. The last memory to click into place is of Shadow and I casting that spell to prevent our memories being lost.

Shadow and I break apart, the same look of disbelief on our faces.

We've been reborn. I totally forgot about Dovarian's spell.

"To think, that one little spell kept our memories safely stored away for us to find when we met again." I breathe. It's unbelievable. At least everything makes sense now. I'm not crazy.

"Even without our memories I would love you."

"And make me break past your barriers again? No thank you!" I tease and hug him tightly.

"Whatever." He says, amusement in his voice a he hugs me just as tight. I lift my head and we kiss again, love and happiness coursing through the both of us.

I'll miss my old life, but I am not the same Amara from that time, making it easier to let go. I've got differences about myself in this life that were not there my last one, but I have enough permanent things about myself that still makes me Amara. The same goes for Shadow. Who knows, maybe we'll meet one of our old friends in another life. I've already met Silver after all, but he obviously won't remember me by the time he goes back in time and meets the old me. Still, it gives me hope to see my good friends again.

Shadow and I know our destinies now. We'll die and be reborn, only to find each other again the next life, never truly forgetting the other. Memories of all our past lives will come back to us when we're ready. We'll forever be the last two Overseers, protecting this world until its end. We will lose friends and family, suffer different heartaches, we will have good days and bad, but we will go through it together.

And that's just fine with me.

**The End**

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